Thursday, June 16, 2005
Little Jessica suddenly became America's child the day she fell down that narrow shaft in a backyard in Texas. Here was a toddler, wedged nearly upside down, in a shaft far too narrow for a man to navigate, and unable to help herself in any way. It didn't take long for the press to descend on that little hole in the ground to cover this valiant effort to try to save little Jessica's life. Pretty soon countless people across the country and around the world were rooting and praying for her life. I was one of them. At first, there appeared to be no way out of this deadly situation, but the rescuers weren't giving up. They began to build a wider shaft parallel to the one Jessica was trapped in. She'd been in there for nearly three days when a rescuer finally went down that new shaft and through the tunnel they had dug to Jessica. Minutes later - a scene many of us will never forget. In the glare of the press's massive lights, a battered but breathing little girl emerged from that hole with her arms tightly around her rescuer.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Good News When There's No Way."
I can't tell you how many times I've been little Jessica in that hole - trapped in a spot, in a situation where there seemed to be no way out. I couldn't plan my way out, think my way out, talk my way out, work my way out. It's that frightening crossroads called "No Way Junction." You may be there right now. If you're not, stay tuned. You will be, sooner or later. You're facing a situation maybe that is beyond your power to fix or to figure out. The usual delivery systems in your life - the people or sources which would usually come through for you just aren't doing it. Not this time. It looks as if there's no way to turn this around. You're at the bottom of the shaft, beyond the reach of any conventional help.
Enter Almighty God. Our word for today from the Word of God, Psalm 25:15, describes our "no way" moments - along with the only way out. The Bible says, "My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare." If you are facing something for which there is no conceivable human solution, then welcome to the "God Alone Zone." It's one of those moments in your life where it's going to be God alone or it's not going to be.
That's not bad news. That's good news. You now have a front row seat on the awesome greatness of the Lord you belong to. Nobody sees God bigger than those who need Him desperately. As King David said in this psalm, "Only He" can release you. Isn't that great? God wants you to believe Him for a solution that will have no human fingerprints on it, only His. He's brought you to "No Way Junction" not because He wants to sink you, but because He wants to show you, and all those who know you, His greatness when there's no human hope, no human explanation, and no shared glory. It will be Him and Him alone.
The wonderful Bible teacher, A. W. Tozer, had it right. He said, "The child of God should always be found living in expectation of the divine." Even when you're not in a "no way" moment. God says to lay our requests before Him in the morning and then "wait in expectation" ( Psalm 5:3). Not agitation. Not frustration, but expectation. God has decided that you're ready for one of those unforgettable Red Sea moments when it's all Him and none of you - when you will go deeper into Him, be more desperate for Him, be more desirous of doing what pleases Him than you've ever been before. He wants you to learn in a way you'll never forget what the psalmist said to Him in Psalm 87:7, "All my fountains are in you."
God may use humans to deliver His resources to your life, but it doesn't come from them. It never has. It only comes through them. So when all the human sources can't do it, your real source is still there. Yes, you're stuck. Yes, there's nothing you can to do get yourself out. Yes, there's no conventional way to get out of this. But if you'll listen very carefully, you may hear some sounds getting closer and closer to you. That's your Rescuer, doing whatever it takes to bring out the one He loves. And He is on the way!