There's nothing more discouraging on a trip than to have a flat tire somewhere along the way. It's the same way in our journey by faith. We start believing God for something and we trust Him that He's guiding us in that direction. Then something comes along that stops all of our progress.
But, on our faith journey, it's not really a flat tire. It could be something much worse. Hurt, anger, distrust and jealousy can be far more devastating than any flat tire. Even though we're limping along through our daily life, our spiritual progress comes to a screeching halt.
Here's where we go dangerously wrong. Of course, we change the tire to get back on our journey. To keep from being stranded without a spare, we look for somewhere to fix the tire. Now, we're at the point hinted at by the title of this blog. Don't just patch the hole in that tire. Get a brand new one.
I know, I know it is best to get two new tires than to run an old one and a new one. Let's skip that analogy of driving and tires. Let's get on to the things that hinder us from getting to God's promised blessings.
Hurt is a big stopper. When someone purposely does something to offend us it almost stops us dead in our tracks like a flat tire will. We often lose the desire to continue our Christian journey. Our joy level drops. We become more concerned about the hurt than we do our love for Jesus Christ. The pain takes control of our thoughts. It's hard to concentrate our faith on God's Word. Every time we get down to pray, our prayers are hindered by what someone said or did to us. When that happens our journey to the blessings of God comes to a halt.
Here's why you don't try to patch that flat tire. We sometimes waste precious time on our journey trying to 'fix' something that won't fix. People's opinions of us won't change without the conviction of God. Most of the time they certainly won't change by trying to reason with the person. If they have purposely done something to hurt you, they will never see the error of their ways if you confront them. More than likely they will just look for another way to hurt you.
Don't waste your time 'fixing' the flat. Get a brand new tire. In Matthew 6:14-15, Jesus said that if you don't forgive people of their sins your Heavenly Father won't forgive you. When you harbor hurt, anger and jealousy toward someone you're not hurting them, you're hurting yourself. You are stopping your forward progress towards God's blessings in your life. Get over it. Don't try to 'fix' the flat. Forgive that person from your heart. Go to God and tank up on His love so you can love them, then put the pedal to the metal.
God has a lifetime supply of joy and blessings that He wants you to enjoy. However, when we encounter these 'hurts' we sometimes stop our Godly journey toward those blessings. Many times we start building our homes and our lives on the pain that we feel like we 'have' to endure because of what has happened to us.
God NEVER intended for you to live in the slow lane or be forced to pitch a tent by the side of the interstate and live with a flat tire the rest of your life. He intended for you to get past that little 'hittybump' and keep on trucking. He intended for you to have a life free from sin, sickness and poverty. He intended for you and has payed the way for you to live victoriously all of your life.
You may ask, "Well, why doesn't He just move this flat and carry me on this journey?" But, hey, it's not God's flat. It's yours. 1 Corinthians 10:13 tells us that everybody on the face of this earth has 'hittybumps' just like you. It's normal for these things to happen. God's not picking on you.
This verse tells us that God actually allows these things to happen to you. Why? Well it certainly wasn't because He didn't want to bless you. After purchasing these blessings with the precious blood of His Son Jesus Christ there is no way that God has any desire to keep them from you.
What God is wanting to do is make you strong. He wants to do greater things in your life than you can ever imagine. Let me use the Apostle Paul as a shining example. Paul prayed three times that God would remove the 'thorn in his flesh'. But, God told him in 2 Corinthians 12:9 that His grace, His unmerited favor, would be enough for Paul.
What is unmerited favor anyway? It is the blessing of God that you don't deserve to get. Now think about it. After all the praying and studying Paul did, he deserved the power of God to come down and save and heal people. BUT, God didn't just want to give Paul the things that he deserved. He wanted to bless Paul (Ephesians 3:20) exceedingly abundantly above all that he could ask or think. Sure Paul went through more 'junk' than any other Apostle. BUT, right now, even today, Paul is reaching more and more people through the letters that he wrote and by his testimony which lives in the New Testament. And let me add this. What are the names of the people who tried to destroy Paul? Are they written down in the history books somewhere? Absolutely not.
God's trying to get you somewhere. He's trying to get you somewhere good. He's trying to get you to the blessings that you deserve because of the blood of Jesus and God's agape love for you. He wants to pour out His unmerited favor on you in a manner that you can't even comprehend.
BUT, you're stuck beside the road to your blessings and crying over what somebody said or did. You've got a blessing waiting for you that you haven't gotten to yet. Tear up your 'pity party' costume and throw away the 'pity party' decorations. Leave them beside the road. Put on the new tire of forgiveness and truck on down the highway. Leave your sorrows behind you. Head for the unmerited favor of God and shout on your journey.
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