When Your Back Is Against The Wall, Worship Your Way Out.

When your back is against the wall, worship your way out. When the enemy is coming against you, you need to worship your way out. Your worship is never wasted. God just wants us to be alone with Him. Your worship will not be wasted. You have to put your mouth on your mountain.  Mark 11:23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.  God is able to take your anxiety and place it with His peace.  Peace on the outside comes from knowing God on the inside.  Lord I commit every bit of my life to you. Show me the way.  Thank you for guiding us Lord on this uncertain journey called life. 

WHEN YOUR BACKS AGAINST THE WALL – hit your knees, raise your hands and praise God through it all! People are watching and God is worth worshiping. 

Paul & Silas were en route to prayer meeting (church) and interrupted by a woman with a demonic spirit. She was the first “Damsel in Distress.” She made her living as a fortune teller. Paul and Silas in kindness but boldness shared her future was a dead end without trusting Christ as Savior. True friends and genuine Gospel preachers will tell you what you need to hear NOT what you want to hear. When Paul shared Jesus with her the demonic spirit immediately departed from her and she got gloriously saved! Moments before she was enslaved by Satan but now she is a daughter of God.

HAVE YOU EVER DONE THE RIGHT THING and yet, got in trouble. Paul and Silas extended grace but got grief. They just honored Heaven but now going through Hell. The leaders escorted these two Christians to the town square and didn’t bless them but beat them, shackled them and tossed them in prison with their “backs against the wall.” When you are in prison (solitary confinement) you do a lot of thinking with time on your hands.

The SITUATION was Paul and Silas were honoring God. They were going to church but God orchestrated their steps and enabled them to bring church to this woman in need of God. She now got her reservation for the Palace but they got thrown in the prison. Paul and Silas learned their SALVATION was still their SOLUTION. When your back is against the wall we need to do two things like never before.

PRAY – Paul and Silas began to pray. “When you are down to nothing – God is UP to something.” Plus, when you kneel before God you can STAND before any man. We need to fear (respect) the Lord more than worry what man can do to us. God is eternal. Man is temporal.

PRAISE – At their lowest point they worshiped God on High. You cannot worship anxiety and the Almighty at the same time. We need to stop telling God how big our mountains are and start telling our mountains how BIG our God is! They never pouted but began shouting praises to the Lord while in prison. The guards heard about their God. Convicts heard their carols of Christ, singing of their Savior and their HYMNS about Him!! Once again, these lost, shackled sinners couldn’t make it to church so their witness brought church to them! EVEN in jail!! FACT: Paul and Silas (not ELVIS) was the first to sing JAILHOUSE ROCK! #ThankYaVeryMuch

PROBLEMS – Will tempt you like never before to compromise, cut corners, cheat and leave Christ out of the equation. WORD OF THE DAY: “When you are TESTED. God can be TRUSTED.” Your world may shake but the Word of God never moves. Faith in Christ is a firm Foundation. When you read and trust God’s Promises your problems will evaporate and experience the PRESENCE of God in a powerful way. The Bible says: “I have yet to see the righteous forsaken” and true to His Word, the Lord sent an earthquake, the jail cells flew open and Paul and Silas were set free. The irony is they were free even when hand-cuffed. With the Lord we find liberty and you cannot contain God in a box or handcuffs. Atheists are actually in “prison” while walking with no shackles but Christians are free even in confinement.

Paul and Silas shared the Gospel with their jailers and led him and his entire family to the Lord (while they were in prison). Your disappointment may be a Divine Appointment to shine God’s Light and love to dark people in dark places (even dark prisons). The next time your back is against the wall may you be reminded to honor Christ even in your darkest dilemma. Plus, others are watching how you deal with adversity. Let them see the Almighty in you.

Blessings

J.P. Olson

www.thewordwithjpolson.com