Dead End?…No Way!

In Luke 2:19 we read that 4 men carrying a cronically ill man walked right into a dead end. They had done everything right. Their faith was right. Their commitment was right. Their determination was right. Their decision was right. They took the right step of faith.  They nailed their proverbial colours to the mast and put all their hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.  For all of this, however, they walked straight into a “could not” situation.

When you know you have done everything you are supposed to do and the way ahead is blocked what do you do?  Consider more closely the place these 4 men found themselves in. They had stirred their faith, were fired up for a miracle, had faced down the disapproving looks, ran the gauntlet of sarcastic comments and had not let anybody or anything disuade or distract them. Yet at the very last hurdle they literally cannot get near Christ. At this point many would have simply turned back murmuring that God works in mysterious ways trying desperately to make excuses for their Saviour. Others would have turned back angry at God and the Lord Jesus Christ for not making room for them or hearing their prayers. Still others would have blamed the crowd and over time transformed their faith into contempt for the church. But these 4 men realised that when the expected has let you down and the unexpected has left you dead in your tracks it’s time to get Pentecostal.

With a faith that simply would not let them stop these men remained totally convinced that Jesus Christ was all the answer their sick friend would ever need. No matter what obstacle had stubbornly got in their way giving up was not an option. No matter how disappointed they may have felt, no matter how difficult the last few steps might be, no matter how they appeared to others with no obvious way forward they believed that Christ would not disappoint their faith. Its time to get Pentecosal and refuse to accept or allow failure, people, disappointment or second best to dictate the final outcome. If you haven’t met Christ in your situation yet look again for He is in there waiting for you (Mathew 7:7-12).

When these men tore the roof off dust and dirt filled the air, debri fell on those below, the crowd pulled back and swayed but Christ saw nothing but the faith in their hearts (v20).  Keep coming to Christ no matter what state your are in and He will not only accept you He will only see your faith, love and trust in Him. Friend, do not worry about being perfect just keep turning up, just refuse to give up and you will find Christ waiting on you and focused on you everytime.   

One last thought. The temptation for these men was to get angry at and fight with the crowd holding them back. Their refusal to get distracted or disallusioned by obstacles including people was determined by their total focus on Christ.  In Revelation 12:7-9 every angel that followed the devil into a fight they should never have got involved with lost their place in Heaven and condemned themsleves to eternal judgement.  Sometimes the greatest victory you will have is the fight that you refuse to get involved in. Selah!

QUOTE:  I did everything I knew to do and knew it wasn’t enough. Then I remembered that He did everything He knew to do and it was more than enough. See Romans 6:10-11; Romans 8: 31 & 37; Hebrews 13:6 (v5-6).