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What To Do When You Step Out to Follow God and God Vanishes

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When To Do When You Step Out to Follow God and God Vanishes

What To Do When You Step Out to Follow God and God Vanishes

One of the patterns that I’ve noticed over many years of following Jesus is that often the lower God speaks, the more difficult the road ahead.

The more certainty I feel to respond to God in the beginning often means more questioning, doubting, and second-guessing later on.

In today’s reading of Acts 13, the clarity of Barnabas and Saul’s appointment for a “special work” doesn’t mean the the path ahead of them with be smooth, easy, swift.

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Their journey begins with a holy exclamation mark. The leaders fast. They pray. They lay their hands on the dynamic duo and send them off, led by the Holy Spirit.

Cities flash by.
Seleucia.
Cyprus.
Salamis.
Paphos.

We discover John Mark is among them—an important detail that won’t play out for a few more chapters.

But all the prayer and fasting and preparation doesn’t mean Barnabas, Saul, and John Mark won’t encounter difficulty; perhaps it means the difficulty will be greater (and they’re better spiritually prepped for it).

They meet Bar-Jesus, an evil magician and false prophet. Meanwhile Elymus, the evil magician, tries to oppose them too.

Paul looks him straight n the eye and tells him he’s going blind. Paul, a man once made blind, now blinds another man to open his eyes to the wonder and truth of God.

When the governor watched the miracle unfold, he became a believer.

From Paphos, Paul and his friends move onto Perga in Pamphlia. At his point, John Mark leaves them to return to Jerusalem. Spoiler alert: This will become a point of contention soon.

Meanwhile, Paul preaches the Gospel in Egypt. The people gather to hear the teaching, but this only makes the Jews jealous. Many came to know Christ. Others tossed Paul and Barnabas out of the vicinity.

Sometimes we’re tempted to believe that if we sense a loud and clear directive from God that that means the path ahead will be smooth, easy, fast, without obstacles.

But often the clearest directives of God are meant to ground us in the reality that God is with us no matter what.

No matter how hard the journey becomes.
No matter how much opposition we face.
No matter how many naysayers try to steer us off course.
No matter how hard the transition may be.

Like Paul and Barnabas, we can press in with trust, prayer, faithfulness. Sometimes the most difficult terrain yields the juiciest, most flavorful fruit for God’s kingdom.

When have you second-guessed one of God’s directives for your life? What was the result?

43 Comments

  1. Jessica H
    Jessica H on March 14, 2016 at 8:33 pm

    When I felt God say to start a prayer group for women. I got distracted by life and discouraged…it was followed by almost a year of depression and anxiety that worsened each month. I am just coming out of it now. And realize I may have needed that group of praying women more than they needed to have me lead. We all just needed accountability. Without accountability I can easily lose sight of God and what is really important in life.

  2. Laura Bennet
    Laura Bennet on March 15, 2016 at 10:33 am

    Boy did I need this today! I took a couple of giant, God’s-leading-me steps in the last few weeks and yesterday all hell broke loose. (There’s a reason for this saying!) The details are too numerous, but I confess that with a little pressure I pressed back, but when the pressure intensified, I crumbled. Doubted. Cried. Questioned. All the while trying to worship, pray and figure out my next move. Then, when I was finally quiet enough and stopped long enough to simply sit for a few minutes in God’s presence, peace came back. Not answers, but new perspective. New awareness that God never left. Isn’t surprised by the sudden turn of events. As you say, he was prepping me for them. Phew. Definitely that moment of looking at the waves instead of Jesus. I’m so grateful that every. single. time he pulls me out of the drowning water. He’s got this. And I realized that often what I “feel” is the unrest of demons in the spiritual realm that are threatened by my obedience to pressing into God’s kingdom and inviting it into my life and world. They don’t like that. 😉

  3. Coleen
    Coleen on December 2, 2023 at 6:40 am

    Laura’s post encouraged me today, because isn’t that often all we have to comfort us in trials -a sense of peace when peace doesn’t make sense?

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