But God: When a Holy God Intervenes
"I thought my family would never change, but God…"
"My life was spiraling out of control, but God…"
"There was a time I thought I'd messed everything up, but God…"
The Bible says that Satan comes only to kill, steal and destroy, but God came so we can enjoy our lives (see John 10:10). "But God" is the moment when God intervenes. Life is going one way-things seem hopeless-but then all of a sudden a holy God intervenes and everything changes.
One of the main prayer requests we get at our ministry is for people's loved ones who don't know God or who are in some sort of trouble. So many people are heartbroken for their loved ones. When you know God and you see people living miserable lives and you can't get through to them, it's heartbreaking. But God can get through to them.
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Whenever you're praying for those loved ones I want you to remember the apostle Paul. He was aggressively seeking to kill Christians and torment them. Then one day when he was out riding his horse, suddenly God showed up. He knocked him off his horse, blinded him and spoke to him. It changed his life completely! After this experience, Paul got the truth about Jesus and ended up being mightily used by God to lead many people to Christ.
God can reach the people you love too. And it doesn't matter how mean and difficult they are or how opposed they are to God. When God shows up, a holy intervention is going to change their life.
Another way God intervenes in our lives is through His favor. Every time I speak and teach or another opportunity for our ministry opens up, I know it's because God is in it. You know, God will give favor to anyone who will believe Him. Every day you should confess that you have favor everywhere you go. God will begin to open doors that you wouldn't believe.
A good example of how God gives favor is the story of Joseph in Genesis. Joseph was the youngest son in his family. All of his brothers were jealous of him and just didn't like him. He was favored by their father and probably got by with more and got some things that they didn't get. His dad gave him a special coat and wearing that coat really stirred up their jealousy. So they sold him into slavery and said he was killed by wild animals.
Acts 7:9-10 (NIV) says, Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt. So Pharaoh made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.
Well, Joseph ended up with more power than anyone besides Pharoah. And as far as I can tell, the only thing Joseph did to get that was to keep a good attitude and trust God no matter what was happening in his life. And everywhere he went, he was good to people.
I tell you, if you have any sort of trouble in your life, the best thing you can do is trust God, keep a good attitude and be as good to as many people as you can. If you'll do those things, the devil can't keep you in bondage.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego give us another great example of how God's favor can deliver us from disaster. The king had given a command that all of the people had to bow down to him and worship him. After Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused, they were bound and thrown into the fire. But God was in the furnace with them. And while they were in the worst moment of their life, they were loosed from those bondages. They went in bound; they came out loose. And when they came out, they weren't scorched, and they didn't even smell like smoke!
No matter where you are right now or what you've been through, if you'll let God in, He'll bring complete restoration to your life. I know because He did it for me. Early on in my life, I had a broken soul. I was abused by my father, abandoned by my mother and ended up in a destructive first marriage. By the time I was 23 I was broken in my soul. I didn't know how to think right. I felt wrong about everything. But God stepped into my life, and I came out on the other side and didn't even smell like smoke.
God loves you so much and has a good plan for your life. Even if you are in the middle of a disaster right now, don't give up hope. I know that what He's done for me, bringing restoration to every part of my life, He'll do the same for you!
