When God moves differently: rediscovering purpose in unplanned places
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"From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John. And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. Whoever has ears, let them hear."
These were the words Jesus spoke in Matthew chapter 11 about John the Baptist after John, from his prison cell, sent two of his disciples to find out if Jesus was the "one to come."
Reading too quickly, there can be a tendency to skip over the implications of the "now" Jesus mentions. We can even find ourselves thinking that Jesus is talking about how God's Kingdom has been advancing up to our current time and place. While it is true that God is still moving, it is not true that the "now" Jesus was referring to was our current time and age.
When Jesus spoke these words, the "now" was just a few years after the start of John the Baptist's ministry. He was referring to a brief period of time that was only a couple of years at most.
In other words, Jesus is saying over the last few years God's purposes have been advancing BIG TIME.
He explains further by saying that all the prophets before had spoken of something that was going to come, but John spoke of something that had arrived.
This was a unique and special time. A pivot in God's plan of redemption had finally come. This was a moment that generations of the religious faithful had waited for with great anticipation.
Yet, the text continues, "To what can I compare this generation? They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others:
'We played the pipe for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.'
Those living at the time had an incredible opportunity to see God's Kingdom advancing. They had the incredible opportunity to see that what had been promised was now literally standing right in front of them.
Unfortunately, they missed the power of that moment because things were not advancing in the ways they expected or had planned out.
While they played a song, people did not dance. While they sang a sad song, no one cried.
God was not advancing His purpose on their terms or in alignment with their expectations. God's Kingdom was still advancing, they were just missing out on their opportunity to be part of it because they couldn't get past their own expectations of what "advancing" was supposed to look like.
We can fall victim to these same tendencies. We can get so caught up in our own expectations of how our lives, ministries, organizations, or even families should be going that we fail to recognize the true ways God might be choosing to work in our midst.
In my work with Open Doors US, a ministry supporting persecuted Christians as they continue to live out the Great Commission in some of the most difficult places on earth, I've had the opportunity to engage with individuals who have been thrown in prison because of their faith in Jesus. These are individuals who had lives and ministries they were carrying out. As they looked at the ways God was working in their lives, none of them would have chosen being unjustly thrown in prison as the desired or even logical next step in their plans.
Without doubt that type of experience could have been eclipsing. They could have easily focused all their time, effort, and intentions on simply trying to understand why their circumstances had turned out the way they had. They could have also focused all their efforts on simply trying to reverse their current situation.
However, I've been humbled to see both men and women choose a different path. As they decided to engage in what Christ might be doing in their current, but unplanned, circumstances, I heard from one who found his faith grow and deepen in ways he doesn't feel it could have outside of the prison experience. Another saw opportunities to share the love of Christ with fellow prisoners that were in desperate need and had an incredible willingness to hear the redeeming message of the Gospel. Surprisingly, this individual said they found more ministry opportunities inside the prison than what they had been experiencing outside of prison.
If these individuals had allowed themselves to be distracted by the changes in their expected circumstances, they likely never would have seen or participated in the work God was choosing to do in that current moment. Like the children in the market, they could have played and sang the songs no one was dancing or crying to.
While our contexts may not involve being imprisoned for our faith, I know that God is still present and desiring to work through us in our present situations. Since our circumstances rarely tend to play out exactly as we expect or hope, we need to choose if we'll be distracted by those differences or if we'll be willing to pause, pray, and see what God might be choosing to do in the current moment.
 | Ryan Brown serves Open Doors US as Chief Executive Officer. Learn More » |
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