Let God Interpret the Facts

Devotionals — Sun, 01 Jun 2025 07:03:06 +0000

“This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘The owner of this belt will be tied up in this way by the Jews in Jerusalem, and they will hand him over to the Gentiles.’” Acts 21:11 (TEV)

Have you ever done the very thing God told you to do and then ended up in what seemed like a worse situation?

The Apostle Paul experienced this on several occasions, but what kept him going was his trust in God’s character. Paul trusted that God was in control and knew what he was doing no matter how things appeared.

And that means Paul took steps of faith based on his belief in God and not according to the circumstances he was in or would end up in. (As Pastor Pete Wilson might say, Paul placed his faith in God’s identity, not in his ability to see God’s activity.)

For instance, when Paul was on his way to Jerusalem, a prophet named Agabus came to see him. He took Paul’s belt and he tied it around his own hands and feet, telling the apostle, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘The owner of this belt will be tied up in this way by the Jews in Jerusalem, and they will hand him over to the Gentiles.’” (Acts 21:11 TEV)

Hearing this, Paul’s friends immediately tried to talk him out of going to Jerusalem, but he went anyway, saying,

“I am ready not only to be tied up in Jerusalem but even to die there for the sake of the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 21:13 TEV)

What the Holy Spirit told Agabus was fact: Paul was bound and handed over to the Gentiles in Jerusalem. Yet, the facts, by themselves, do not reveal the whole truth.

God used Paul’s arrest as the means for getting him to Rome, which is where Paul wanted to go all along. Once in Rome, Paul was placed under house arrest, forcing him to stay in one place after so many years on the road as a missionary.

Bound in chains, Paul began to write letters to the congregations he’d helped plant, and some of those letters are part of the New Testament we read today.

God is in the best position to interpret the facts of your life. Place your faith in him and not your circumstances.

By Jon Walker
used by permission

FURTHER READING

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The post Let God Interpret the Facts appeared first on Thoughts About God.

When We Maximize our Problems, We Minimize God’s Power

Thoughts_About_God — Sat, 25 Mar 2023 08:01:41 +0000

“O Lord, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.” 2 Kings 19:15 (NIV)

Surrounded by 185,000 enemy troops, who comprised an army that had never lost a battle in its conquest of the world, King Hezekiah listened to a message that, in essence, said, “Surrender and we’ll let your people live as slaves. Otherwise, we’re coming in to kill.”

With nowhere else to turn, Hezekiah took the matter to God. If it were my crisis, my prayer would probably start like this: “God, do you realize that there’s an army surrounding us! They’re planning to kill us in the morning! Why aren’t you doing something about this?”

But Hezekiah praised God before anything else: “O Lord, God of Israel . . . you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.”

He sought God first, in worship, before asking for anything. He voiced the truth that God was bigger than the bogeymen outside the gates of Jerusalem. Then, almost as an afterthought, Hezekiah said, “Oh yeah, there’s this big army outside. God, we don’t know what to do, so we’re looking to you.”

When we maximize our problems, we minimize God’s greatness and we also minimize—in our minds—God’s ability to handle our problems.

Hezekiah acknowledged God’s sovereignty and power over the facts of the situation, and that lifted the crisis above the thinking of mere men and placed it right into the loving lap of the One, True, Supreme Being of the universe. We can’t, but God can.

The next morning, Hezekiah looked out across the enemy encampments that surrounded his people and he saw the invading army laid waste by an Angel of God (2 Kings 19:35).

God, we don’t know what to do, so we’re looking to you.

By Jon Walker
Used by Permission

Jon Walker | Thoughts About God