Article written by “The Knocked Ones” – excerpts from their Christian Blog & Forum.
Lot’s wife looked back longingly at Sodom and Gommorah and turned into a pillar of salt. Are you still looking back at what you’ve lost because of ‘the knock’?
God uses everything for good, for those of us who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). That means He uses the tragic parts too. He weaves it back into the tapestry of life. For those who endure, they will receive beauty for these ashes (Isaiah 61:3).
It requires faith. When people have everything stripped off them, faith is all they’ve got left. Faith is to completely trust God with your life with a deep sense of knowing that everything will be ok. People confuse religion with faith. Religion says “you must”. Faith says “just trust”. Faith is the currency that God uses to transform lives.
“Why God, Why?” that is the question. The answer is simple, “there was no other way”. The crises of ‘the knock’ is used to steer your vessel into safety. God uses these crises to help us do a 180-degree turn to avoid a wreck. You were blind and did not see that the course you were on was leading to the complete destruction of your soul.
God uses storms to abruptly change your direction in life. You may have been in calm sunny weather but you were headed straight for the rocks. When the storm comes, we cannot comprehend that it is for our good. We might get angry and question God. It is only later that it will be revealed that there was no other way.
Doing a 180-degree turn is also the definition of repentance. It was a military term describing a soldier marching in one direction and doing an about-face, 180-degree turn. And when it’s used spiritually, it means to turn towards God.
It is a rude awakening when God wakes you up from your slumber and reveals Himself to you. These storms in life, abruptly change the direction your life is going and force you to turn to God. Many don’t understand this.
God removes people from your life suddenly and in seasons. They were distracting you from your purpose. Preventing you from being the person He truly made you to be. You are no one less ordinary but a beautiful creation destined for great things.
God wants you to acknowledge Him in all your ways because He has a plan and a purpose for your life. Research shows that is people who are in their latter years are often when they are most active in the community.
Crises force a person to look inwardly and question the very fabric of life. Existential crises are painful and difficult to deal with. Sometimes God must use a complete wipe of your life to get you back on the right course.
Have you experienced this? Have you ever considered that the devastation around you is actually the very thing that will turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to you? You just have to endure through the refining fires. Have you ever considered that you are a pioneer that will help change the world for good?
Being a pioneer is a difficult and treacherous journey. You have to have courage and go against the grain and stand up for injustice. You must have experienced adversity first-hand. No intellectual understanding will be powerful enough to shake up this world. God needs warriors who have been in the battle. Warriors who have been refined and who’ve developed deep courage from facing their giants.
God will give you the power to do so if you just let Him. Without pioneers we would never have seen the abolishment of slavery. Those brave men and women who changed the direction of this earth forever experienced tremendous hardship.
Fighting for the ‘under-dog’ with everything you have will not be easy but it will be worth it. Draw near to the One who created you for this purpose. You must lean on Him to renew your strength each day. “But those who hope in the Lord, will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint”. (Isaiah 40:31)
Peace & Blessings!