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Turning a Dead
End into a Blessing
.
Not every dead end turns into a blessing. Don’t fail to extend
your hospitality even at the most unfavorable moment. You might end up
entertaining angels or the Lord himself. The humble person will embrace God - don’t
lose your sense of humor. You will do greater things - expect possibility. You
must not only believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel, you must
also believe that the end of tunnel leads to a better tomorrow. That’s a
beautiful definition of faith — assurance and conviction. When you hit the dead
end, keep the assurance and conviction that make you expect the possibility of
a good outcome
Samuel Stone
I have
discovered that sometimes hitting a dead end in life can be a blessing.
If I
didn’t hit a dead-end back in Burma, I wouldn’t have come to the U.S.
I
remember those days, my home was searched frequently by a truckload of
soldiers, sometimes at 2 A.M. after midnight.
They
knocked on my door and walked in with guns and rifles in their hands scouring
every room.
My
father said at one point that it would be better for me to leave the country
for the moment.
I
planned to escape the hardship for about six months and breathe some fresh air
in the U.S. visiting my Aunt and cousins in California.
However,
that 6 months has turned into 28 years in the U.S. On the surface, it’s 28
years of exile, but in hindsight, that’s 28 years of blessings to count.
My father
didn’t want to come to America, until he was imprisoned by the Burmese
government with serious false charges.
I am
sure you remember those days that our entire church prayed for him for his
release. His imprisonment was like a dead end at the time.
He was
extremely disappointed and decided to migrate to the U.S.
He
enjoyed the blessing of living his last 15 years in this greatest nation on
earth and seeing the grandchildren growing up.
Trinity
reached a dead-end last year when we lost our property, but now we have
survived and I’m sure God will help us thrive as well.
I guess
many of you would also have come to the dead ends of life, career, or
relationships, and some may have been there more than just a couple of times.
In
hindsight, you might agree that those dead ends were blessings in disguise.
Sometimes, it might not be so clear, but Christians are given the assurance of
the blessings no matter what.
Paul said, “We know that all things work together for good
for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28).
All
things mean all the good things and the bad things of life; peaks and valleys
of life; opportunities and dead ends of life.
All
things work together for the good for those who love God. If you love God, you
will see that the ups and downs in life can be an exciting roller coaster ride.
I don’t
like roller coasters, especially when it’s going downhill, but I know we love
to ride it because we know it’s fun.
Why is
it fun? Because it’s made to be safe. You are assured by the ride providers
that they have made it safe.
Of
course, in rare occasions, we hear the roller coaster accidents in the news,
but in God’s kingdom there’s no roller coaster accidents.
So, whenever you go through the peaks and valley of life,
remember this verse, Romans 8:28, “We
know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are
called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28).
It says
“We know …” because we have been assured that we will get there safely.
When we
know it’s safe, things become fun.
Many
religions look upon life as a sea of suffering; but for Christians, life is a
safe and secure joyride because God will weave all your ups and downs in life
into a beautiful tapestry.
Peter
would have never become the “fisher of men” or one of the greatest men
that changed human history if he did not hit the dead end.
The
Roman Catholic church regards him as the first Pope. They believe every Pope in
history is the successor of Simon Peter.
He hit
a dead end in his career. He and his friends were toiling all night long
without caching a single fish.
Can you
imagine if he caught a bunch of fish and went home happily that night? Just
because he did not catch any fish, it changed the trajectory of his life.
Jesus
was recruiting disciples and many people refused to follow him because they
were not at the dead end yet.
Jesus said to one guy, “Follow me,” but he said, “Let
me bury my father first.”
What it
means is that he would follow Jesus only after his father passed away.
Another guy said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first
say farewell to those at my home.” (Luke 9:59-62).
This
one put the same thing in a nicer way. By farewell, he meant he wanted to wait
until his folks passed away.
Even
though these were filial duties of those days, Jesus knew they were just
excuses.
Now,
when he called Peter, James, and John to follow him, the Bible said that they
left everything and followed him.
It’s
quite dramatic. They left everything. Everything means their homes, their
families, their careers, and their comfort zones.
They would
not have left their comfort zone without hitting the dead end. That’s why a
dead end can be a blessing.
Peter,
James, and John might not have understood the extent of their blessings by
hitting this dead end.
They
all suffered much as Jesus disciples.
Peter
was crucified upside down on the cross. That was a horrible ending.
However,
2,000 years later, we looked back and billions of believers past and present
have been counting the blessings of Peter.
“We know … that all things … work together … for good … for
those who love God.”
How to
turn a dead end into a blessing? We know that not every dead end turns into a
blessing.
There
must be some conditions or attitudes involved to change a dead end into a
blessing.
We can
draw three lessons from this scripture passage: Extend Hospitality, Expel
Inferiority, and Expect Possibility.
1) Extend Hospitality
When
Jesus saw Peter, Peter was obviously tired after toiling all night long without
catching anything.
He was
washing the nets, closing the shop, and preparing to go home.
Jesus
was preaching on the shore, but the crowd was pressing on him to hear the word
of God.
Jesus
stepped onto Peter’s fishing boat and asked him to put out a little way from
the shore so as to create a distance between the crowd and him.
Then
Jesus sat on the boat and preached from there.
Peter
could have refused to fulfill Jesus request. After all, he was tired, hungry,
and probably angry for his big failure.
In
spite of his dead-end situation, he extended his hospitality and let Jesus used
his boat as a pulpit.
This
attitude coincides with the previous passage that we talked about last week.
A
gentile widow extended hospitality to Elijah during a famine and gave him her
last bread that she intended to eat with her son and prepare to die of
starvation after that because there was no more food available in that region
due to the severe drought.
She was
at a dead end but her hospitality never waned. It takes a lot of courageous
love and hospitality to give a stranger your last bread.
That
hospitality earned her and her son a blessing of surviving the three and a half
years of famine.
Hospitality
is a hidden commandment in the Bible. God blesses those who has hospitality and
punishes those who fail at providing hospitality.
Abraham
provided hospitality to three travelers and ended up entertaining angels. Those
angels promised Abraham to have a son with Sarah, who was unable to get
pregnant until then.
When
you hit a dead end, you are not up to extending hospitality to others,
especially strangers.
However,
Peter extended his hospitality by letting Jesus use his boat as a pulpit. He
ended up entertaining an angel, but someone greater than an angel.
So,
don’t fail to extend your hospitality even at the most unfavorable moment. You
might end up entertaining angels or the Lord himself.
2) Expel Inferiority
“But when Simon Peter saw it (two boatloads of fish), he fell
down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!”
(verse 8).
When
Jesus asked him to drop the net, he thought Jesus had a trick or two to help
him catch a couple for fish, just enough for their breakfast.
However,
when he saw the harvest beyond his imagination, he felt he did not deserve it.
He felt horrible for his doubt.
He might be saying, “This is incredible. I don’t deserve this
miracle. I don’t deserve this blessing. This is also unusual. I am a
professional fisherman. I am a fish whisperer. I know this is impossible. The
only way this is possible is that you are the Creator God himself. That’s
right. I know who you are now. Go away from me, Lord, I’m a sinner. I don’t
deserve you.”
Many
people suffer from the inferiority complex. Inferiority complex is different
from humility.
I did a
research on the difference. Humility is a sign of love.
A
humble person is also humorous because they are happy. Do you know that the
words "human," "humility," and "humor" came from
the same root word “humus”?
So, if
you are not sure someone is humble or having inferiority complex, just look at
their sense of humor.
Inferiority
complex, on the other hand, is a sign of hatred — either against themselves or
against others.
At this
point, Peter hated himself for doubting Jesus, so he asked God to leave him.
The humble person will embrace God, but the inferior person will expel God.
So,
expel inferiority, don’t expel God, and don’t lose your sense of humor.
3) Expect Possibility
Then Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you
will be catching people.” (verse 10b).
Jesus
changed Simon Peter’s fear into a great expectation of possibility.
What Jesus means is “You see these two boatloads of fish and
you think it’s incredible. But this is nothing compare to what you will be
doing if you follow me.”
It’s similar to what Jesus says in John 14:12-14, “Very
truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing,
and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the
Father.”
Folks,
you will do greater things.
Expect
possibility. You must not only believe that there is light at the end of the
tunnel, you must also believe that the end of tunnel leads to a better
tomorrow.
At the
end Peter, James, and John left everything and followed Jesus. That’s a big
leap of faith.
Why did
they have so much courage to leave? It’s because they have great expectations.
The Bible says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped
for, the conviction of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1).
That’s
a beautiful definition of faith — assurance and conviction.
When
you hit the dead end, keep the assurance and conviction that make you expect
the possibility of a good outcome.
This is
how you turn the dead end into a blessing:
1)
Extend Hospitality
2)
Expel Inferiority
3)
Expect Possibility
Until
we meet again, keep cultivating a fruitful life. Amen!
Pastor • Trinity
Presbyterian Church • North
Jersey • Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
https://sermons.faithlife.com/sermons/355828-turning-a-dead-end-into-a-blessing
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