Turning Points

What is a Turning Point?

A turning point is a time in your life when God is guiding you from one direction to another.

Proverbs 21:1 NLT

1 The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord; he guides it wherever he pleases.

Proverbs 21:1 NLT

1 The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord; he guides it wherever he pleases.

I would suggest to you that not only the king’s heart but all hearts. The Lord guides them in the way He would have them go, it is up to us whether we choose to follow that course or not.

A great illustration of this is the apostle Paul, on his second missionary journey he was guided by the Holy Spirit in which ways he should and should not go...

Proverbs 21:1 NLT

1 The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord; he guides it wherever he pleases.

Acts 16:60-

Acts 16:6–10 NIV

6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

We see that working in unison with the Holy Spirit Paul is guided in the way he should go and during that journey he had turning points, changes in direction in order to fulfill God’s will and purpose.

See inserted map here

His intention was to go into Mysia, specifically Bithynia but God turned him instead to Troas then on to Macedonia.

insert photos of racetracks here

We don’t choose the direction or timing of the Turning Points

God alone creates our path for us, he is the author of our lives. He gives us free will, which I will talk about in a moment, but He alone is God and we are not. Too many of us today have the false assumption that we are the center of our universe, that we make the ultimate decisions in our lives. If that were true everyone would healthy, wealthy and wise.

Whether one is a corporation president or living on welfare don’t all the prayers sound the same? Lord, help my family, friends and those who we brought into our prayer group. Bless them, heal them, provide for them. If we were a god couldn’t we just simply make it happen?

David knew about God’s sovereignty and control over our lives, listen to what he wrote in Psalm 139;

Psalm 139:16 NIV

16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Even God Himself expressed this sentiment through His prophet Jeremiah;

Jeremiah 18:1–6 NIV

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.

Jer 18:

We do choose whether to whether to Take the Turn or not

Earlier we showed you pictures of a racetra

We do choose whether to whether to Take the Turn or not

The free will God has given us allows us to not go through the turning point He has put in our lives, however just like the turns on the track are created to make you stay at speed to your destination and following through will help you to win the race, it is ultimately your choice.

You can choose to turn ‘left’ instead of right but that will cause you and everyone around you great harm. It will most likely take you out of the race and force you to go against everything the creator has set in place for you to win.

Or you can choose to trust the creator of the race and follow the turning points, you can come into a place where you can see the turning point and react quickly, those who get through them the fastest will make the greatest distance during the race, they have learned to trust the track/path that has been laid out for them and know the intention of the designer was not to harm them but to give them the greatest opportunity to perform. They learn to live as Paul put it to the church at Corinth...

2 Corinthians 5:7 NIV

7 For we live by faith, not by sight.

God knows where and when your finish line is, it is up to you to trust Him

Ecclesiastes 11:5 NIV

5 As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.

hebrews 12:1-

Hebrews 12:1–3 NIV

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.