Cast Down, but Not Destroyed
God's Providence can push us into His best, where we can emerge victorious and never be in extremities again.
A.B. Simpson emphasizes that God often places us in seemingly impossible situations, just as He did with the Israelites at the Red Sea, to compel us to rely solely on Him for deliverance. He illustrates that while the enemy may confine us, God always provides a way out from above, transforming our challenges into opportunities for faith. Simpson encourages believers to embrace these moments as divine appointments that can lead to spiritual victory and transformation, urging them to bring their needs to God and trust in His faithfulness. He draws parallels to Jacob's encounter at Peniel, where struggle leads to triumph and a new identity in Christ.
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How did God bring about the miracle of the Red Sea? By shutting His people in on every side so that there was no way out but the divine way. The Egyptians were behind them, the sea was in front of them, the mountains were on both sides of them. There was no escape but from above. Someone has said that the devil can wall us in, but he cannot roof us over. We can always get out at the top. Our difficulties are but God's challenges, and many times He makes them so hard that we must get above them or go under. In the Providence of God, such an hour furnishes us with the highest possibilities for faith. We are pushed by the very emergency into God's best.
Beloved, this is God's hour.
If you will rise to meet it you will get such a hold upon Him that you will never be in extremities again; or if you are, you will learn to call them not extremities, but opportunities. Like Jacob, you will go forth from that night at Peniel, no longer Jacob, but victorious Israel. Let us bring to Him our need and prove Him true.
Sermon Outline
- God's Providence in Difficulties
- Rising to Meet God's Hour
- Victory Over Adversity
- We can get a hold on God that we never let go
- We can emerge victorious like Jacob
Key Quotes
“Someone has said that the devil can wall us in, but he cannot roof us over.” — A.B. Simpson
“Our difficulties are but God's challenges, and many times He makes them so hard that we must get above them or go under.” — A.B. Simpson
“We can always get out at the top.” — A.B. Simpson
Application Points
- We should rise to meet God's hour and get a hold on Him that we will never let go.
- We can learn to call our difficulties opportunities and rise to meet God's hour.
- We should trust in God's Providence and push us into His best.