Thank You God For The Broken Road

Thank you God for the Broken Road!

THE SCARS OF LIFE

Some years ago, on a hot summer day in south Florida, a little boy

decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house. In a

hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back door, leaving

behind shoes, socks, and shirt as he went. He flew into the water, not

realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator was

swimming toward the shore.His father, working in the yard, saw the two as they got closer and closer together. In utter fear, he ran toward the water, yelling to his son as loudly as he could.Hearing his voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a U-turn to swim to his father. It was too late. Just as he reached his father, the alligator reached him.From the dock, the father grabbed his little boy by the arms just as the

alligator snatched his legs. That began an incredible tug-of-war between

the two. The alligator was much stronger than the father, but the father

was much too passionate to let go.

A farmer happened to drive by, heard his screams, raced from his truck,

took aim and shot the alligator.Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived. His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal. And, on his arms, were deep scratches where his father’s fingernails dug into his flesh in his effort to hang on to the son he loved.

The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy after the trauma, asked if

he would show him his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs. And then, with

obvious pride, he said to the reporter, "But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them because my Dad wouldn’t let go."

- Author unknown.

God has blessed you, so that you can be a blessing to others. You just never know where a person is in his/her life and what they are going through. Never judge another person’s scars, because you don’t know how they got them.

Right now, someone needs to know that God loves them, and you love them,

too - enough to not let them go.

I believe God does all things with a purpose. Every time God meets us here it is for a reason. I believe there is one of God’s children here today who is struggling with something that seems to be winning. If I am talking to you then God has a message for you!

Sometimes life’s problems seem so much bigger than we are. We sometimes feel like a squirrel fighting a lion.

In my intimate times with God,… He has revealed to me that, it is in these hard and trying times, that we are taught the lessons in life that we come to appreciate the most.

If it weren’t for the broken road I had to go down I wouldn’t be where I am today.

- Drug addiction led me to crime.

- Crime led me to jail.

- Jail led me to a discipleship program.

- The discipleship program led me to Christ.

- Christ led me to church.

- I found the three things that I have come to love most in my life on that road.

- My Jesus,.. My Wife,… And my ministry.

Another lesson that God has taught me, now that I am embracing the broken road is,..

It don’t matter where you are on the time line of your life, when you surrender your will to God,… for Him to use you past struggles to prepare you for the man / woman He has purposed for you to become.

- Why?... because God’s plan for your life is not subject to a time line,

- You can be 66 years old and surrender your life. And God can turn your past stumbling blocks into stepping stones.

- You just have to change your perspective of your past.

- Begin to view your past struggles as God’s way of equipping you for the future He has for you.

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Here are two purposes God has for our struggles...

o To prepare and equip us.

- We are always tested before we are trusted.

o Avenue for God to reveal Himself.

- God is constantly looking for ways to express His character to us.

o To teach us about appreciation.

- The most appreciated goals in our lives are the ones we have worked hard and struggled to obtain.

o Turn in your bibles to psalm 73. ( story about Asaph)

I want to give you four ways to succeed through struggles...

1.) Stay focused on your struggles. V. 2-12