If you have been similar to me in any way, I was guilty of trying to fit a round peg in a square hole. I kept trying to make relationships work and manipulating people and situations to get my way. I was attempting to reach the world’s milestones with all of my power. It eventually dawned on me that those attempts were dead ends. Many times, we fail to see “closed doors” as God’s sovereign will in our lives. Given that God is sovereign, He possesses the qualities of being a ruler, having power and wisdom, and having the authority to do what He desires. I love how the writer describes the character of God by reminding us in Psalm 115:3, “Our God is in the heavens, and he does as he wishes.”
“That’s a Dead End” when we do not choose Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior. Acts chapter 4 verses 11 and 12 says, “For Jesus is the one referred to in the Scriptures, where it says, ‘The stone that you builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.’ There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”
“That’s a Dead End” when our desires override God’s will for us. The importance of our desires is emphasized in James chapter 4 verses 1 through 3. It says, “What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.” The key to understanding these passages is for us to examine and scrutinize our motivations to see if they align with God’s will.
“That’s a Dead End” when we fail to deny ourselves. We are reminded in Matthew 16:24–26 that is says, “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?’”
Today, I plead with you to choose Jesus as your Savior, embrace His teachings, and adopt His mindset, as any other path, alternative course, or different choice will ultimately result in a complete dead end.