Can’t Stop This!
February 3, 2020
Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear. Philippians 1:12-14 NIV
Most everything can be stopped. You can stop the most powerful train. Huge aircrafts can suddenly malfunction and fall from the sky. Hundreds of thousands of little snowflakes can join forces and bring a major city to a standstill. In fact, if you think about it, everything except what has been initiated by God’s power can be stopped.
The most powerful thing that God has initiated that can’t be stopped is the good news of Jesus Christ. It cannot be destroyed or halted. Tertullian was an early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He was born in 155 A.D. and was the first to produce an extensive body of Christian literature. He wrote a distinguished treatise called “Apologeticus” where he argued for Christianity and demanded that it be treated as all religions and sects under Rome. He looked at personal experience and history, starting back in the days of Paul and the first century, and made this observation: “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” Several pagan authors of the day expressed, “Do you not see that the more violent our attempts to destroy them, the more they grow?” That’s what Paul said to the Philippians. Far from stopping the message of Jesus, his imprisonment made others bold to share. They were all witnesses to the fact that nothing initiated by God’s power can be stopped, certainly not the spread of the good news of Jesus. Bullets can’t stop it, prisons can’t stop it, persecution can’t stop it.
Joni Eareckson Tada has been a quadriplegic since a swimming accident in 1967. Young Joni came to know Jesus very personally. She is an author, speaker, artist, and founder of Joni and Friends, for persons with disabilities. Many people prayed for her healing and have asked her over the years why she thinks Jesus didn’t heal her. Her answer is prompt and unhesitating: “Serving Jesus with joy with my broken body has been the tool God has used to bring thousands and thousands to new life. Sometimes God allows what he hates to accomplish what he loves.”
The good news can’t be stopped. Your tough situation may even enable others to get it, to lose their fear, and boldly share. It’s the power of God, which can’t be stopped. A new heart is the beginning.
- Pray for those in especially tough situations and persecution around the world. The good news is spreading through their sacrifice.
- Be confident about your own challenges. Perhaps someone watching you will see the good news.