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THE MYSTERY OF DIVINE INTERVENTION-Conversation VII: When God Says, “No Farther” · PAMOJA PODCAST | PAMOJA MINISTRY, A LIFE OF CHRIST INTERNATIONAL MINISTRIES

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  Welcome to Pomoja Ministry. There is a phrase
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  hidden throughout scripture that reveals another
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  dimension of divine intervention. It is not always
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  spoken with the exact same words. Sometimes it
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  appears as a command, sometimes as a limitation,
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  sometimes as a boundary, sometimes as protection.
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  But the message is the same. You may come this
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  far, but no farther. And perhaps this is one
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  of the most comforting truths we can discover
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  about the sovereignty of God. Because there are
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  moments when God does not prevent the battle
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  from approaching. He does not always stop the
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  fire before it is lit. He does not always prevent
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  the lions from being around you. He does not
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  always stop the storm from forming. He does not
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  always prevent the enemy from pursuing. He does
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  not always prevent the trial from entering the
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  story. But scripture repeatedly shows us something
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  extraordinary. What God permits to approach does
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  not automatically receive unlimited permission
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  to destroy. There can be a boundary. There can
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  be a limit. There can be a line established by
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  divine authority. And when heaven says, no farther,
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  nothing crosses that line without permission.
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  One of the most powerful pictures of this is
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  found in the book of Job. God speaks about the
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  sea and asks, who shut up the sea behind doors
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  when it burst forth from the womb? And then God
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  says, this far you may come and no farther. Here
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  is where your proud waves halt. Think about that
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  image. The sea is powerful. The waves are violent.
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  The water moves with enormous force, but God
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  tells the sea where to stop. The ocean does not
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  decide its own boundary. The waves do not determine
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  how far they are allowed to travel. God establishes
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  the line, and perhaps creation itself is preaching.
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  The waves can rise, but there is a limit. The
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  storm can rage, but there is a boundary. The
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  water can move. But heaven has already said,
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  this far and no farther. And perhaps some of
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  us need to hear that in our own lives. There
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  are things that have already come farther than
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  we wanted. A problem came farther than we expected.
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  A betrayal went deeper than we imagined. A trial
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  lasted longer than we hoped. A battle reached
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  areas of our lives we thought were protected.
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  And because it came that far, we became afraid
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  that it could go anywhere. But that is not necessarily
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  true. The fact that something reached you does
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  not mean it owns you. The fact that something
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  wounded you does not mean it will finish you.
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  The fact that something entered the story does
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  not mean it controls the ending. Because there
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  is still a God who can say, no farther. This
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  becomes even clearer in Job's story. Satan appears
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  before God and speaks about Job, and God allows
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  Job to be tested. But notice carefully what happens.
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  The testing is not unlimited. God establishes
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  boundaries. At one point, Satan is permitted
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  to touch what belongs to Job, but not Job himself.
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  Later, Satan is permitted to afflict Job physically,
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  but God says, you must spare his life. There
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  is a boundary. Satan has desire, but desire is
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  not authority. Satan wants destruction, but destruction
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  is not automatically permission. Satan pushes,
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  but heaven establishes the limit. And this is
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  important because sometimes we imagine spiritual
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  warfare as though God and the enemy are equal
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  powers fighting for control. They are not. God
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  is not struggling to remain sovereign. God is
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  sovereign. The enemy operates as a creature.
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  God reigns as creator. And even in Job's darkest
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  season, Satan never became sovereign over Job's
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  life. The boundaries remained in God's hands.
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  Job lost things. Job suffered. Job questioned.
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  Job grieved. But Satan could not simply decide,
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  I will take everything, including his life. There
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  was a line he could not cross. And maybe there
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  are moments when we need to stop magnifying what
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  is attacking us and remember who still holds
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  authority over the boundary. The enemy may be
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  loud, but God is sovereign. The trial may be
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  severe, but God is still God. The storm may be
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  violent, but the storm does not become Lord.
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  Now go with me to Daniel chapter 3, Shadrach,
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  Meshach, and Abednego. are thrown into the fiery
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  furnace. Nebuchadnezzar is furious. The furnace
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  is heated seven times hotter. The soldiers who
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  throw them in are killed by the heat. Everything
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  about the environment says destruction. And yet,
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  when the king looks inside the furnace, he sees
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  something impossible. The three men are walking
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  around, unbound, unharmed, and there is a fourth
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  figure with them. Think about what the fire was
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  allowed to do. The fire burned the ropes, but
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  not the men. The fire touched what had bound
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  them, but could not consume what God was preserving.
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  There is a mystery here. The same fire that killed
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  the soldiers outside the furnace became powerless
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  against the lives God had decided to preserve
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  inside it. And perhaps this is one of the clearest
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  pictures of divine boundaries. The fire could
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  surround them. The fire could heat the atmosphere.
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  The fire could destroy the ropes. But there was
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  a line it could not cross. It could not consume
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  them. And perhaps somebody listening needs to
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  hear this. There are fires that may burn things
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  around you without being permitted to burn what
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  God has placed his hand upon. There are seasons
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  that may strip away what bound you. while leaving
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  your purpose intact. There are trials that may
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  change your environment, without changing God's
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  intention concerning you. And when Nebuchadnezzar
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  calls the men out of the furnace, scripture says,
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  the fire had not harmed their bodies, not a hair
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  of their heads was singed, their robes were not
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  scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.
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  That is extraordinary. They had been inside the
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  fire, but the fire did not have the final authority
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  to define them. And perhaps one of the greatest
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  testimonies of divine intervention is not always
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  that you avoided the fire. Sometimes it is that
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  you came out and the fire could not take what
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  it wanted. Then there is Daniel. Daniel is thrown
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  into a den of lions. The lions are real. The
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  danger is real. The sentence is real. But Daniel
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  survives the night. And when the king asks whether
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  Daniel's god was able to rescue him, Daniel answers,
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  my god sent his angel. And he shut the mouths
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  of the lions. Notice what God did not do. He
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  did not remove the lions. He did not make the
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  den disappear. He did not prevent Daniel from
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  being thrown inside. Instead, he placed a limit
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  on what the lions were allowed to do. They could
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  be present. They could surround Daniel, but they
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  could not consume him. There it is again. No
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  farther. You may enter the den, but the lions
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  cannot eat you. You may enter the furnace, but
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  the fire cannot consume you. You may be sifted,
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  but your faith will not be surrendered to destruction.
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  The sea may stand before you, but God can open
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  a path. through it. The enemy may pursue you,
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  but there can come a moment when God says, enough.
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  We touched Peter in our previous conversation.
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  Jesus tells him, Simon, Simon, Satan has asked
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  to sift all of you as wheat. The sifting is coming.
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  Jesus does not say Peter will avoid it. But then
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  Jesus says, but I have prayed for you, Simon,
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  that your faith may not fail. Peter still fails
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  publicly. He still denies Jesus. He still weeps
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  bitterly. But the failure is not permitted to
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  become final destruction. Why? Because Jesus
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  had already prayed for the preservation of Peter's
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  faith. This is another kind of boundary. The
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  shaking will come, but it will not take everything.
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  The failure will hurt, but it will not erase
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  the calling. The night will be dark, but it will
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  not become permanent. And perhaps there are seasons
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  when God does not prevent us from being shaken
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  because there are things that need to fall away.
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  Pride, self -confidence, dependence on our own
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  strength, false ideas about ourselves. Peter
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  told Jesus, even if everyone else falls away,
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  I will not. Peter was confident in Peter. Then
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  the night revealed Peter to Peter, but the sifting
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  was not the end. Because after resurrection,
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  Jesus restores him. And later, Peter becomes
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  a pillar of the early church. The enemy touched
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  Peter's confidence, but did not take Peter's
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  calling. He touched Peter's emotions, but did
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  not own Peter's future. He touched a chapter,
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  but did not get the book. And perhaps it is the
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  revelation. The enemy may touch a chapter without
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  owning the story. Paul gives language to this
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  mystery. He says, we are hard pressed on every
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  side, but not crushed, perplexed, but not in
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  despair, persecuted, but not abandoned, struck
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  down, but not destroyed. Listen to the structure,
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  pressed, but not crushed, perplexed, but not
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  despairing, persecuted, but not abandoned. struck
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  down, but not destroyed. There is pressure, but
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  there is a limit. There is pain, but there is
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  a boundary. There is attack, but there is still
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  preservation. There is falling, but there is
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  not final destruction. Paul is describing the
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  difference between what happened and what God
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  did not allow it to become. That is divine intervention.
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  The pressure was real. But it could not crush.
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  The persecution was real. But it could not produce
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  abandonment. The strike was real. But it could
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  not become destruction. And maybe that is how
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  you need to reinterpret some things in your own
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  life. Yes, it hurt. But you are still here. Yes,
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  you were pressed. But you were not crushed. Yes,
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  you became confused. But you did not lose your
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  entire hope. Yes, something knocked you down,
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  but something else kept calling you back to your
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  feet. Maybe you have been focusing on what touched
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  you, and not enough on what was unable to finish
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  you. Now go back to the Red Sea. Israel has Egypt
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  behind them. The sea is in front of them. There
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  is nowhere to go. Moses tells the people, do
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  not be afraid. Stand firm. and you will see the
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  deliverance the Lord will bring you today." And
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  then he says, the Egyptians you see today you
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  will never see again. What a declaration. Israel
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  had seen Egypt for generations. Egypt had defined
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  their environment. Egypt had defined their labor.
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  Egypt had defined their suffering. Egypt had
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  defined their oppression. But God was establishing
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  a boundary. Egypt had come far enough. Slavery
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  had come far enough. Pharaoh had come far enough.
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  The pursuit had come far enough. There came a
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  moment when history changed because God said,
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  no farther. The same waters that opened for Israel
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  closed over Egypt. And suddenly, the thing that
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  had pursued them no longer had access to the
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  next chapter. Maybe that is another form of divine
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  intervention. Sometimes God carries you while
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  something pursues you. But there are moments
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  when God refuses to allow what followed you out
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  of one season to follow you into the next. The
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  wilderness ahead belonged to Israel's journey
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  with God. Pharaoh could not come with them. And
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  maybe there are things that God will not permit
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  to accompany you into. where he is taking you.
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  Not every relationship belongs in the next season.
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  Not every fear belongs in the next season. Not
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  every habit belongs in the next season. Not every
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  wound is supposed to continue controlling you.
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  Not every voice that defined you in Egypt receives
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  permission to speak in Canaan. There comes a
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  moment when heaven says, that went far enough.
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  But there is something we need to understand.
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  We do not always get to choose where the boundary
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  is. We would prefer the boundary to be before
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  the battle, before the furnace, before the den,
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  before the sifting, before the betrayal, before
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  the valley. But sometimes God draws the line
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  farther into the story than we would have chosen.
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  The Hebrews were not protected from entering
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  the furnace, They were protected in the furnace.
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  Daniel was not protected from the den. He was
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  protected in the den. Peter was not protected
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  from failure. He was preserved through failure.
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  Paul was not protected from pressure. He was
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  preserved under pressure. And this requires a
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  deeper kind of faith, because sometimes we pray,
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  God, don't let this happen. And when something
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  happens anyway, we assume God has lost control.
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  But perhaps God is still sovereign even when
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  the boundary is not where we wanted it. Maybe
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  we wanted God to say, it cannot approach. And
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  God said, it may approach, but it cannot destroy.
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  We wanted no furnace. God said no burning. We
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  wanted no lions. God said no devouring. We wanted
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  No sifting. Jesus said, Your faith will not fail.
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  That does not mean suffering is insignificant.
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  It does not mean pain should be romanticized.
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  It means God's preserving power is not limited
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  to preventing difficulty. He can also establish
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  limits inside difficulty. And that is one of
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  the great mysteries of divine intervention. Isaiah
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  declares, No weapon forged against you will prevail.
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  Notice something, the promise does not say no
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  weapon will ever be formed. Weapons may be formed,
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  plans may be made, opposition may arise, but
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  formation and success are not the same thing.
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  Something can be formed against you and still
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  fail to accomplish its ultimate intention. That
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  does not mean believers never experience pain
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  or loss. Scripture itself gives us too many examples
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  for us to say that, but it does mean opposition
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  does not possess sovereign authority over God's
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  purposes. A weapon can be real and still not
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  be final. A plan can be serious and still not
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  prevail. A battle can be intense and still encounter
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  a boundary it cannot cross. So perhaps the question
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  is not always. Has something been formed against
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  me? Maybe the better question is, who has final
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  authority? And for the believer, the answer is
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  not the weapon, not the enemy, not the circumstance,
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  not the diagnosis, not the opposition, not the
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  accusation, not the valley, God. And perhaps
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  this is where faith rises. There may be things
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  in your life right now that have come farther
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  than you wanted. Maybe the fire is already hot.
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  Maybe the lions are already around you. Maybe
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  the pressure is already real. Maybe the trial
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  is already in motion. Maybe the thing you prayed
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  would never happen has already happened. But
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  do not assume that because it came this far,
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  it can go wherever it wants. There is still a
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  God who establishes boundaries. The sea may rise,
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  but God has a line. The fire may burn. but God
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  has a line. The lion may roar, but God has a
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  line. The enemy may pursue, but God has a line.
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  And when his sovereign purpose says, no father,
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  no force in heaven, earth, or hell can overturn
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  his authority. So today, I refuse to surrender
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  to fear simply because the battle has approached.
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  I refuse to assume that proximity means victory.
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  I refuse to believe that because something touched
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  my life, it now owns my life. No, the God who
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  carried me, the God who went before me, the God
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  who fought battles I never saw, is also the God
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  who establishes boundaries, and perhaps there
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  are things that will discover something about
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  my God before the season is finished. They cannot
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  go as far as they intended. The fire cannot take
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  everything. The lions cannot consume everything.
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  The pressure cannot crush everything. The sifting
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  cannot destroy everything. The enemy cannot follow
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  me everywhere. There is a boundary, and perhaps
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  the very reason I am still standing is because
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  somewhere along the way. God already said, no
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  farther. But there is another question. What
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  happens after God establishes the boundary? What
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  happens when the enemy has gone as far as God
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  will permit? What happens when the sea has reached
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  its limit? What happens when the night has gone
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  as far as it can go? Because scripture reveals
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  something else. There are moments when God does
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  more than stop what is coming against you. Sometimes
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  he reverses the direction of the battle. The
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  pursuer becomes pursued. The accuser is exposed.
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  The prison door opens. The stone is rolled away.
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  The enemy that expected victory discovers that
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  God has changed the outcome. And perhaps that
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  is the next dimension of this mystery. Not only,
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  no farther, but sometimes. Now watch what I do.
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  That is where we will continue next time as we
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  keep exploring the mystery of divine intervention.
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  Until then, stay in faith. Stay anchored. Do
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  not measure God's sovereignty by how close the
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  battle came. Remember, what approached you may
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  still have encountered a boundary you cannot
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  see, and what looks unrestricted to you may already
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  have heard a command from heaven. This far, and
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  no farther. This is Pomoja Ministry. One conversation,
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  one story, one revelation at a time. Until next
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  time, God bless you.