#291 - Mark Hitchcock // God Orders Our Stops and Steps

Welcome to the Daily Blade. The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up. Welcome back to the Daily Blade. I'm Dr. Mark Hitchcock. I'm the pastor of Faith Bible Church in Edmond, Oklahoma. and I'm filling in for Kyle and Joby this week. You know, one of the most important things in the life of every believer is to know God's will. Maybe you're seeking God's will for something in your life and it just seems like a lot of doors keep closing and you kind of don't know what to do. It seems like you've kind of run out of options. Well, I wanna look at a passage today in the book of Acts, Acts chapter 16, that I think will help us. Acts 16, verse six, this is on Paul's second missionary journey. He's got Timothy and Silas with him. It says, they passed through the Phrygian and Galatian regions, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come to Mycenae, they were trying to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them. And passing by Mycenae, they came down to Troas. There's a great story from the life of Daniel Boone. He was one of America's heroes on the frontier. Once he was returning from some uncharted forest beyond the Kentucky River and a lady asked him if he ever been lost And the famous frontiersman said this he said I can say I was ever lost ma but I was bewildered once for three days The apostle Paul could say the same thing as he was traveling there on his second missionary journey. In Acts 16, Paul was clearly perplexed and bewildered for an extended stretch of time as he was seeking God's will and God's guidance, if we just encountered one closed door after another. The same thing's often true in your life and my life. We can find ourselves perplexed and bewildered as we kind of navigate a forest of decisions that we face every day. Maybe a decision about marriage. Should I get married? Who should I marry? Maybe something related to our family or our children, a job opportunity, a financial decision, where to live. Nothing is more important in life in discerning and doing the will of God. It's been well said that the will of God is the measure of things. The will of God is central and core to the life of every believer. And I think here in this passage, we see two important principles about discovering God's will, especially in the face of closed doors. The first thing we need to do is keep moving. You'll notice that Paul and Silas and Timothy, they keep moving. In fact, they moved for a thousand miles and they kept coming to one closed door after another. We need to keep moving. We can be paralyzed by indecision and inaction There an old saying that you can steer a parked car So we need to be moving in life and you need to keep doing the things that you know God wants you to do. There's the general will of God that we read in the Bible. There are the things that God wants every Christian to do. So be doing the things that you know God wants you to do and keep moving. God usually leads us one step at a time by a combination of forces. He does it usually over a period of time. The second point here is God orders our steps, but he also orders our stops. God was ordering their stops and closing doors. It says the Spirit of Jesus didn't permit them to go Bithynia. And it says that the Holy Spirit forbade them for speaking the word in Asia. So we don't know how God did this. It may have been some inner prompting or impression. It may have been outward circumstances that God overruled and ordered, but God stopped them again and again. But the whole time God was funneling them west to the city of Troas, to the exact place he wanted them to be at the exact right time. And so God never closes a door without opening another door. We see that clearly in this passage. I like what Robert Morgan says. He's one of my favorite authors, Robert J. Morgan. He says, as Paul, Silas, and Timothy pressed east to west across the great expanse of Asia Minor modern Turkey every door was closed to them every option forbidden every opportunity denied God had sent them on a mission then closed the doors This was perplexing for Paul. There he was, eager, prepared, and on a mission to preach among people who needed the gospel, but the Holy Spirit said, don't do it again and again. Paul and his companions were trying to follow God's will, but they found one door closed after another for a thousand miles. Think about that. They're traveling all across modern day Turkey, a thousand miles, door after door is closed. Then Morgan says this, we have to bypass all the closed doors by faith until we come to the one God is preparing to open for us. We cannot let closed doors discourage us for God is in the details. So I wanna encourage you today, if it seems like a lot of doors are closing in your life of what you wanna do, keep moving, keep doing what you know to do and don't let the closed doors discourage and dishearten you. God orders our stops as well as our steps, and God will open the right door for you in the right place at just the right time. Thank you for listening to today's episode. Before you go, if you want to help equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review. Stay sharp. you