Vital signs- Friday, January 28th, 2022

“Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church.”

(Acts 12:1)

Have you ever watched a painter put his colors on canvas? He’s splashing the colors on that canvas and he’s mixing this. He says, “I think a little more yellow, yeah.” And you watch and you think, “Man, that guy’s so good; how does he do that?” But then he will reach in, and he’ll get some colors and he’ll go, “Shoosh!” And you think, “Oh no, you ruined it!” He put some big old splashy thing on it, and you think, “Mister, you really messed up—let’s see how you’re going to get out of this.” And then, suddenly it just comes together. It’s a masterpiece!

Sometimes we look at what God does, as He puts His colors on the canvas and we say, “Lord, you’re really doing good.” And then suddenly God just goes, “Shoosh!” And we think, “Lord! You have messed things up.” Have you ever felt that way? That may have been how the Early Church felt when Herod began his attack. “God, how did You let this happen?” Just because things are not making sense to you, do not think that they don’t make sense. And just because you can’t see God working doesn’t mean He is not.

• Do you remember a time you felt like God was not working but later recognized that He was?

• How can these moments, both from our own experience and as recorded in Scripture, help us to remain faithful to God when it is hard to see how He is working?

Write down an area in which you are looking for God to work, but you’re not seeing it yet. Take time to pray over this, asking the Lord to give you continued faithfulness as you wait for Him.