Contradictions Or Confirmations?

Contradictions or Confirmations?

Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do. John 6:5-6

JESUS WAS ALREADY PLANNING to astonish his friends and feed thousands with just a few loaves of bread and some fish. Still, he framed the impossibility as a question to Philip: How are we going to do this? This seemingly playful question was loaded with more than just humor, however. It presented visible, tangible evidence as a direct contradiction to the coming reality. It put Philip in a mental dilemma that would later serve as a powerful object lesson: What we see isn’t always the truth.

Our faith has matured when it has gotten to the point of seeing obstacles, challenges, and even contradictions to our prayers as confirmations rather than denials of them. Very often, the resistance we face is there to lift us up, not bring us down. For example, when you have been praying for someone’s salvation or spiritual growth and that person makes an emphatic declaration against God’s purposes; when you experience a financial setback just as you begin to pray for provision; when conditions worsen while you are praying for healing; when a conflict erupts just as you pray for a better relationship; do you see these as occasions to lament and assume your prayers are ineffective or do you see them as occasions to rejoice in the wonderful testimony that is coming? Immature faith defaults to the former, mature faith to the latter.

Just as Joseph voiced God-given dreams and then found himself in the bottom of a pit and David found himself in exile not long after being anointed, you will voice prayers that are followed by turns in the opposite direction of them. Is God opposed to your prayers? Has he said no? Not from that evidence alone. You are most likely experiencing the journey of faith in ways that allow you to grow, advance in God’s purposes, and see great victories that result in greater testimonies.

Airplanes ascend best when taking off into headwinds. The resistance lifts them up. Let contradictions to your faith do the same. See them as opportunities to believe—and rise higher than ever before.

Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing but to turn it into glory.