Galatians 4:13 "As you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you."
In this small verse, Paul makes an interesting statement, that the whole reason the church at Galatia exists, the whole reason they know Jesus at all, the whole reason they have had thier lives changed, is because Paul's eyes got sick.
Now, there's a good chance that when it happened, Paul's team was upset, they laid hands on him, prayed in faith for healing and were upset at changed plans. They probably even asked God why he would have allowed such a big detour to happen.
But now we know why! Now we get it. First, there was a group of people that would not have been reached had it not been for the detour. Second, there was a book of the Bible that would have never been written. And third, there are truths that would have never been learned, by us and millions of others, had one guy not come down with a rare eye disease.
It's so tempting to always see the negative side of pain and detours and perceived 'hindrances' in our lives. We curse them, bind them, run from them, pray over them, and want to get through them as quickly as we can, but the reality is God always uses them.
"God, my I have the eyes of faith to see in the midst of a detour, what You're doing. And even when I can't see in the midst of it, may I know in faith that You make all things work together for my good. Amen."
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Matt Keller is the founding and lead pastor of Next Level Church in Fort Myers, FL. What began as 35 people in a movie theater has now grown into a prevailing and relevant church with over 2,000 regular attenders who are passionate about making a difference not only in Southwest Florida, but in churches across the USA. If you had to describe Matt in 90’s TV character terms, he would most resemble an extreme sugar version of Chandler Bing from the hit show Friends.
2 comments:
Yes Matt, a detour is a reminder that we are not setting the course and to be obedient and joyful, and remember God knows best. Remember His good may not feel "good" to you, but it is His Will that will be done.
Heidi Veres
It's amazing how often detours occur. It's almost as if the 'off track' reality is more constant than the normal path. How do we define normal? Is it more, what we choose as our 'acceptable' life experience? Or is normal really the unexpected or less desired occurrences resulting in confrontation, correction and a shift in perspective? We don't call it normal because we don't like it. It's not our plan so we challenge whether or not it is 'the' plan. Good article.
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