Temporary Dead Ends In Light of Eternal Promises...

Next to our neighborhood, there is a new one being built, and while we watch them chop up all the beautiful trees and blow up all the hills, I have enjoyed walking the paved streets with no houses. As I walk, it never fails that this sign catches my attention. Honestly, I have a love/hate relationship with it. First, I loathe entirely (said in Grinch voice circa 2000) that there will likely be another thoroughfare right next door. UGGHH!!

However, on the love side...it makes me think deeply about all the dead ends—temporary and otherwise—the Lord has brought such major players in Scripture, like David and Paul, to, and how God's pattern and character teach me to respond when I face them...

The more I study David, the more I love him, and thank God for allowing such a flawed and broken guy to be so important and also be considered a man after God's own heart. The sins committed by him and against him are intense, but all the while, he remained open-hearted and open-handed to God for His glory and purpose.

Think about how he must have felt when he finally understood his tragically selfish sin against God and Bethsheba, and their baby's death because of it. Or years later, when he failed to hold his son Amnon accountable for the horrendous sin of raping his own sister, also David's child, Tamar. Or how about how he had been absent enough as a father that Tamar went to her other brother, Absalom, for comfort instead of him. Then, when Absalom took matters into his own hands by killing Amnon, David once again avoided accountability.

How about when Absalom then made every effort to overthrow David, pushing his father out of his own kingdom to have for himself? How about when one of David's trusted friends, Ahithophel, went behind his back and attempted to assist Absalom in the overthrow? How about when David received the news that yet again he had lost another son?

In fact, he mentions in Psalms 3 and 4 how people have questioned and even taunted him, doubting that he would survive this horrible series of events, much less reign as king. He had made so many mistakes. He had been betrayed in such shocking ways. He had been broken so deeply. Yet he was supposed to still be used by God?!

Can you imagine how often he had to feel like he was at a dead-end?!

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Or what about Paul...this guy had been the worst of the worst, railing against Christians to the point of taking part in their murders. Then, when Jesus came to him, saving him from himself, he didn't start living a fluffy life. NO! Look what he says in 2 Corinthians 11:24-28 during the latter part of his ministry, telling the false teachers all he had been through...

"Five times I received the forty lashes minus one from the Jews. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once, I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day in the open sea. On frequent journeys, I faced dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, and dangers among false brothers; toil and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold, and without clothing. Not to mention other things, there is the daily pressure on me: my concern for all the churches."

I don't think dead-end is a strong enough word for how they must have felt!! Yet what we see from both of them is responses that reflect God's generous saving grace, faithful endurance, and purpose-driven perseverance. What is it that drove them to do as Paul said to Timothy...Keep fighting the good fight"? Well, let's look at that whole passage...

"Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of eternal life to which you were called and about which you have made a good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the presence of God, who gives life to all, and of Christ Jesus, who gave a good confession before Pontius Pilate, I charge you to keep this command without fault or failure until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. God will bring this about in his own time. He is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see, to him be honor and eternal power. Amen."

1 Timothy 6:11-16

This passage is beyond rich!! We could go word-for-word and still not be done by Christmas. But there is a key phrase we must focus on to land this plane on dead ends...

"Take hold of eternal life"

The fundamental idea is that each Christian should strive to live with a kingdom-focused mindset while on earth. But fundamentals are just rules without a foundation...and we know full well that the foundation of our faith is not just what God can do on this earth for us, but what He has already done through Jesus Christ, His Son: He has made salvation and eternal life available to all who call on Him as their Lord and Savior. This gift is not one that any person can boast in their own power.

It is clear that David in the OT had not seen the physical manifestation of God's love and power through Jesus Christ, but this guy knew what he knew about his heavenly Father and His covenental promises on eternity. The evidence can be found in Psalm 16:5-6:

"Lord, you are my portion and my cup of blessing; you hold my future. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; Indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance."

David wasn't just singing a light tune on a breezy afternoon. Pastor David Guzik says, "This psalm is titled A Michtam of David. Michtam is related to a word meaning to cover. Since the psalms with this title are written in times of peril, some think the idea is to cover the lips in the sense of secrecy, as if this were a secret or silent psalm given in a time of crisis."

He was devastated. Yet, he perceived his trials, traumas, and tragedies as more than dead ends, just like Paul. Rather, they saw them as stepping stones—or gracious gifts from God for His glory and their good—leading to a glorious inheritance in eternity with Him!

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Over the past year, I have come to understand that all the places and spaces God has allowed me to go...all the good, the bad, and the ugly...will not, in ministry, equal what I once thought they would. I had come to a dead end. Initially, I was, on some level, devastated, embarrassed, ashamed...yada yada yada. Yet now it is most certainly well with my soul, and here's why...

Once again...for the umpteenth time in the life of this ministry, the Lord has brought me back to Acts 16:6-10. In this tiny passage, Paul is headed to spread the gospel, and on two different Occasions in two different directions, the Holy Spirit stands in his way. Finally, Paul positions himself in the port city of Troas to rest, regroup, and wait for God. There, a man comes to him in a vision, asking him to come to Macedonia... and long story short: this is how Europe—and now us—have the gospel!

Paul could have seen those blocks from God as dead ends, but he didn't. He put himself in a prime position to be ready and available to go whenever and wherever. Because he knew that God was faithful and He was not done...and look what God did from there!!!

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"God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to Him. God can only reveal His will to a heart that is humble and tender and empty."

Years ago, I read this quote by Andrew Murray, and it touched me, but nothing like it does today as I look back and consider all the ways God has used to teach me where He really wants me to be. The excitement of social Media status, successful retreats, and published or recognized material will never, EVER match the joy of waiting at a dead end with Him, knowing that even if I never do anything else in the world of ministry, His promises remain!

Sisters... those walls you are facing that feel like dead ends are not boulders that slipped through God's hands and have mistakenly landed in your way. God put them there. He also planned, before creation, to give you everything necessary to use His character to overcome... but not always in the way you might think. Maybe the overcoming He has for you right now is learning how to wait...How to treasure your dead end by dwelling on what He has already done.

Are you wholly yielded to Him?

“I will bless the Lord who counsels me — even at night when my thoughts trouble me. , I always let the Lord guide me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my whole being rejoices; my body also rests securely. For you will not abandon me to Sheol; you will not allow your faithful one to see decay. You reveal the path of life to me; in your presence is abundant joy; at your right hand are eternal pleasures.” Psalms‬ ‭16‬:‭7‬-‭11‬ ‭CSB