Sunday was a day of reckoning – both for good and bad.

First, the bad. In the afternoon, I went to crank up the old laptop to get a few things done, and there it was – the blue screen of death. My PC was locked down. After multiple reboots & tries at recovering it, nothing. I was caught in a continual loop of failure and frustration. After some IT gymnastics (okay, let’s call it what it was – a miracle) I was eventually able to save my files, reboot the PC as from the factory and then re-install programs and copy old files back. Whew!

Then I realized that this scene was a picture of what God was doing in the lives of people through our “Break Free” series.  When the reality of a broken life becomes too obvious to ignore and they can no longer function as usual (like a blue screen), people are ready for a change.  This is the good part I mentioned earlier.  God has brought a reckoning of sorts to the lives of many.   Those changes have looked like confessions of sins and guilt that had plagued people for years.  It looks like people forgiving those who have wronged them in the past.  It is as tangible as a break from addictions.  It has resulted in people realizing that they couldn’t live life on their own terms anymore and giving their lives to their loving God and Savior.

In fact, one such person told me later Sunday evening, “I was willing to pray.  I was willing to go to church.  I believed in God.  Yet, the one thing I told myself that I wouldn’t do was to give my life to Him.  When I was challenged to look back into my past, I didn’t think that there was anything there to deal with.  I was wrong.  God revealed to me that I was hanging onto my past and it was ruining my present.  When I gave God my past, then I was able to give God my whole life.  Now, everything is different.”

As painful and frustrating as an unwanted interruption may be, it doesn’t always bring death.  When we out of options and are at the end of ourselves, that blue screen in our lives can actually bring life.  That’s the power of God.  That’s what is meant by, “God can restore the years the locust have eaten … ” – Joel 2:25

God is willing and able to see us Break Free from anything we can’t say no to.  Why don’t you turn to Him at your time of need.  He is able to make something beautiful out of your pain and your past.  To hear the messages from the break free series, go to www.crossroadsjc.com/messages/