Sunday Sermonettes #096
When God Goes Before You
Closed doors and obstacles are nothing when God moves ahead of you to break them open.
He will level the barriers and the mountains that stand in your way. And God often chooses unlikely people to accomplish his purposes for you.
Your opposition ahead might be like fortified cities that cannot be conquered. But God’s promise says:”I will go before you and will level the mountains; I will break down gates of bronze and cut through bars of iron. I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, . . .”
God Uses Unexpected People to Fulfill His Purpose
It is amazing to note that God is speaking here to King Cyrus, a Persian king yet to be born.
God is telling him that he is calling him by name to deliver his people from a 70-year-long captivity in Babylon.
Though Cyrus is a foreign king, God promises him that he will be able to break through the seemingly strong, impenetrable defenses of Babylon and conquer its riches.
Hidden Treasures in Your Darkest Season
This account reveals the heart of our God. He is still the One who goes before his people, removes what seems impossible, and faithfully accomplishes his purposes. That is why this promise gives hope to you today.
Just as God went before a foreign king to deliver his people, he goes before you today. The treasures he has for you in your dark season might not be physical gold, but something far more valuable.
These promises hold a mighty encouragement to you who are passing through a dark night of captivity—it can be any trouble that has been long draining your spiritual, emotional, and even physical strength.
God has hidden spiritual riches behind this tough situation in life. Through Jesus Christ and his unfailing love for you that no situation can rival, you will emerge more than a conqueror from this dark night.
Trials That Transform You
These hidden treasures—the lessons of faith, hope, patience, perseverance, and endurance—are the transformation process through which you will emerge strong and triumphant, made pure as gold refined in the fire that comes through the trials you are passing through now.
Therefore, ask God to give you a fresh insight to see the trials you are going through in a different light.
Wait in Hope—Your Victory Is Coming
God’s promises will not fail. He will go before you. He will level the mountains. He will give you hidden treasures and riches stored in secret places.
To level a mountain doesn’t mean your problems will magically vanish. Instead, as the psalmist declares, “When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted.” God answers by strengthening you from within.
He breaks the grip of fear and anxiety, giving you courage to face what once seemed impossible. The mountains may still stand before you, but they no longer tower over you, for as your vision of God’s greatness grows, what once seemed immovable begins to shrink in the light of His might and power.
The method by which God gifts this to you is of his choosing. The people through whom it will come to pass is for him to command.
The promise is for you to keep. The deliverance and victory will come at its appointed time.
Wait in hope. Believe in the promise. And God will cause you to triumph over the dark night in your life.
Bible references:
Isaiah 45:1–3 , Jeremiah 25:11–12 & Jeremiah 29:10, Ezra 1:1–4, Romans 8:37, 1 Peter 1:6–7. James 1:2–4 & Psalm 138:3
Note: God spoke through the prophet Isaiah to name King Cyrus of Persia roughly 150 years before Cyrus actually conquered Babylon (which happened in 539 BC)
Featured image courtesy: Image by Erik Tanghe from Pixabay
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