WHAT IS THE OBSTACLE YOU CAN’T GET PAST?

WHAT IS THE OBSTACLE YOU CAN’T GET PAST?

DOC LYNCH

It looms large. It overshadows everything in your life. Even when you’re not thinking about it you’re thinking about it. It’s there when you go to sleep and it’s waiting for you when you wake up. It’s the one dominant issue amidst all of your other issues. It’s a mountain. It’s Goliath. It has to be removed.

Many reading this will know EXACTLY what I am talking about.

I could write a laundry list of what that mountain is for many people. I don’t want to go down the path of money woes, relationship difficulties, addictions, chronic illness, etc. Those are all very real, but I have to say, if you’re pretty far down the road in serving Jesus and haven’t conquered that stuff yet, then there might be greater issues that you need to deal with first.

I’m talking about the struggles of the wilderness (daily living).

The awakening from the slumber of the religious status quo and seeing for the first time that everything has been for the most part…well…just plain wrong.

It’s a dry and uncomfortable place to be. The problem, the actual “mountain” is not what you’ve been “operating” in for perhaps years, but what to do about it. That’s the MOUNTAIN, and it’s really big.

I’ve confronted the mountain so let me give you a bit of advice from one who has tried every failed method.

You cannot: climb over it, go through it, go around it. You cannot decorate it and make it look nice, you cannot live with it. You definitely can’t ignore it. You can’t pretend it’s not there. It never becomes comfortable. If it is not conquered, it will conquer you. Eventually it will fall on you and bury you. Jesus addressed it thoroughly.

Mark 11:23 (AMP) – “Truly I tell you, whoever says to this mountain, Be lifted up and thrown into the sea! and does not doubt at all in his heart but believes that what he says will take place, it will be done for him.”

What do you think He was talking about on the heels of cursing a fig tree which (allegedly) represented the spiritual failure of Israel?

He looked for fruit on a tree that was barren. It was useless.

The barren fig tree was as useless as a believer who is stuck in the shadow of the mountain of gospel ineffectiveness.

There is only one way. It must be uprooted. It must go away. It must be removed.

Only when we can get out from under dry religious exercise and begin to react and respond to the gospel according to the authority that Jesus has given us, will we ever truly BE the Church of Kingdom Authority.

Think for a moment about your generic church experience. You get up. You go to church. It’s the same church, Sunday after Sunday. Maybe you even make a real effort to make it more than a one day a week experience, and you try a midweek bible study. You give your tithes and offerings, maybe even extraordinarily. You pray when “they” say pray. You sing when “they” say sing. You sit, you stand, you sit again. You even try to listen. At the end you leave. One more day that hasn’t changed. Nothing has changed. Your obstacle is waiting for you. In fact, if you’re honest, the obstacle has been with you all morning. Even at church. You haven’t realized it, but your solution (church) has become absorbed into the obstacle.

This is how something as benign as a fig tree can become something that even Jesus couldn’t get past. It’s become useless and weak. No more fruit. Your expectations have waned.

If your mountain is looming over you today, it is time to respond. How long are you willing to live in its shadow while Kingdom living seems to become more distant? Are you the believer who has the signs following you?

Or are you doomed to be one who will always be chasing the signs? You’re trying to make something happen. Even church is no longer the respite, but is now a chore. It’s somewhere else you just “have to be”. Monday begins another habitual beginning to another dry and trying week. It really gets problematic when the weekend oasis is no longer something to look forward to. Life is one big, gigantic obstacle. Call it a mountain. Call it Goliath. Call it your fig tree even, but it’s not happening for you. Your little “bag o’ tricks” is empty. You’re empty. The gurus are empty.

Something needs to change. REALLY change. This ain’t working.

It won’t work. Your expectations are misplaced. It was never any of what you “tried”. Trying has been false and ineffective advice, even from those whom you trusted.

Sometimes it’s simply finding someone to sit with you and listen. You actually thought you would find that at church? I’m not saying that’s impossible, but the modern church is not set up for that. It’s not what it’s really designed for. It’s a new paradigm. Come and gather. Pray. Sing. Do what you’re told. Write a check. Listen for a scrap that might apply to your obstacle. Leave. Generally sad and disappointed.

Even if your pastor is willing to give you 5 minutes, you will realize you’re on your own. UNLESS…

…they show you the SECRET (Mark 11:23). Yes, sadly, it can legitimately be called THE SECRET, because it’s not widely publicized. It’s not in the best interest of any church to let that SECRET out. If it was known it would nullify many churches reason to exist. That’s right.

In my newly formed church, I’m doing it different. First of all, I am taking no salary. This puts me into an entirely different atmosphere. It’s literally rarified air. It changes my main purpose as a pastor. I have no fleshly or carnal attachment. All the money we raise goes to paying the bills (rent, electric, water, gas, etc.), but mostly it goes to local missions. There is a freedom in that. I have no “staff” to take care of. I have to meet the spiritual needs of my people. Over time THAT will become their part and purpose. They will seek me out and I will PERSONALLY respond to their needs. They will seek my advice and…

…I will respond with the SECRET and even GUIDE them along until they are stable and have conquered their OBSTACLE. I am committed to that. Together with JESUS we will see it through to the solution.

We (people) are the Church, the Body of Christ. We must collectively break it down from the Machine it has become. If we were actually doing our part the OBSTACLE would be uprooted in lives. God’s strategically placed leaders need to place what is important (people) at the forefront of purpose. When we do that a healthy Kingdom of Revival will form supernaturally!

Gettin’ it REVIVED,

~Pastor Doc Lynch~

Revival Life Church

New Milford, CT