A Trap Or A Stepping Stone?

Here is a great quote from the booklet I'm reading...

"Today, whatever state you are in, never separate your condition from God's compassion nor your pain from God's Holy Spirit. Do not let the pain destroy the amazing thing that God wants to do for you." - The Compassion of Christ

Are circumstances a trap or a stepping stone along the way?

If you look at the Gospel of John it is a series of encounters that Jesus has with people. Many of those people are trapped in some way but then they meet Christ and He frees them or heals them.

"Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, 'Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?' This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, 'Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.' And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus stood up and said to her, 'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?' She said, 'No one, Lord.' And Jesus said, 'Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.' " - John 8:2-11 ESV

Jesus gave this woman the same freedom that He had. He turned an end into a beginning.

God isn't going to leave us in our circumstances. He Is never going to leave us. At the same time He does not plan on staying anywhere for too long either. He Is on the move. His compassion is moving Him.

We don't have to leave where we are to go with God. We can remain true to our commitments and still walk with Him.

"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil." - Ephesians 5:15-16 ESV

Life isn't a trap when we walk with God.

--