Blessing Unhindered

Blessing Unhindered

Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God.

Isaiah 37:20

IN WORD There’s no better testimony than a story of supernatural intervention. When an unwavering pattern is broken by an unexplainable force, people take notice. Natural laws build into us certain expectations: gravity pulls us down, incurable diseases take lives, and might makes right in politics and war. So when natural laws are made to bow before a greater power, it’s a remarkable event.

Hezekiah understood that there was a greater purpose in his prayer than saving his skin. There’s no doubt that he desired personal safety for himself, his city, and his people, but he saw a bigger picture. He knew that if an invading king who had never been stopped was suddenly stopped, the world would take notice. The God of the people who stopped him would be glorified. A weak city spared from a strong army would be shown to be unexplainably blessed.

That dynamic has been repeated often in Israel’s history and in the history of Christian communities in oppressive countries. God is the defender of the underdog when the underdog happens to be someone close to His heart. Any power can prevail against human beings alone; no power can prevail against human beings backed by God.

IN DEED How can your life, your family, and your church impact the world? They have to be supernatural and unexplainable, provocatively over and above all rationalizations. Only then does a status-quo world take notice of a peculiar people. Natural laws are noticeable only when they’re broken.

Live a supernatural life. Let God put His dreams into your heart, dreams that are so impossible that only He can fulfill them. Then live by faith in His might—visibly and powerfully. Ask God to make your life and your church unexplainable forces in your world.

Attempt something so great for God it’s doomed to failure unless God be in it.

—JOHN HAGGAI