Has God been putting up roadblocks in your path? Has he been making it impossible for you to “proceed with the route” you had in mind for your life? This can be really frustrating—especially when your plans revolved around pleasing God. Maybe you’re feeling disillusioned or even angry—wondering what God is trying to do here.
If so, I think today’s conversation is going to be incredibly helpful to you. Because we’re looking at a Bible story where a man was utterly convinced that he was headed out to please God. He was on an upward trajectory, and was gaining momentum and honor. And yet Jesus stopped him in his tracks, and rerouted him to a life filled with so much more.
I’m so delighted to have my new friend, Ann Swindell, with me for this first conversation. Ann has been featured widely by The Gospel Coalition, Risen Motherhood, (in)courage, Proverbs 31 Ministries, and other publications.
Guest: Ann Swindell
Bible Passage: Acts 9:1-9 ESV
Get your Freebie: The Live Like It’s True Workbook
Mentioned Resources:
-
- Path to Peace by Ann Swindell.
- Season 2 of Live Like It’s True: The True Story of Easter
- Episode: The True Story of the Arrest with Lindsay Schott (part of the Easter Series)
- Episode: The True Story of the Empty Tomb with Erika VanHaitsma (part of the Easter Series)
Music: Cade Popkin Music
Transcript Here
Summer Standout Series
Today we’re kicking off my Summer Standout series. Over the summer, I’m connecting with a handful of fellow Bible study authors who are releasing a new study, and so I’ve let them choose the story from the Bible that we’ll be talking about.
Ann Swindell
Ann Swindell and her writing have been featured widely by The Gospel Coalition, Risen Motherhood, (in)courage, Proverbs 31 Ministries, and other publications. She is the owner of Writing with Grace and holds an MA in Writing from DePaul University and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction Writing from Seattle Pacific University. Ann lives in West Michigan with her pastor-husband and their children. Learn more at annswindell.com.
When You Find Out You Were Wrong About Jesus {Ann Swindell} Share on XFind Ann:
Path to Peace
As we all search for peace—overwhelmed, fearful, and stressed over all kinds of things—God is there, paving the way to lead us back to Him. And God’s peace is what allows our souls to rest. Gretchen Saffles of The Well-Watered Woman called this book, “a balm to your soul, a beacon of hope, and a declaration of God’s loving-kindness that never fails for his people.”
This Isn’t What I Signed Up For!
Ann reminded us that we cannot look to our culture to tell us what will please God. Especially since our particular culture says, “Please yourself.” Our culture encourages us to do everything for our own gain and happiness, but that’s not the call we have as Christians.
Ann told us about a painful time when she was angry and frustrated with God, and said, “This isn’t what I signed up for!” But then her husband asked, “What did you sign up for?”
Ann says, “The truth is, what we signed up for with Christ is to go and die to ourselves and to what we thought we deserved. And it’s to gain the preciousness of our Lord Jesus. And it so often never looks like what we expected. That upward trajectory of life here on earth that our world says we should go after is so often not the way of Jesus in our individual lives. God will call some to have great positions of earthly power. But for many of us, our lives are smaller and humbler, and less flashy than we thought they would be. Yet if we are with Jesus, we are gaining the greater treasure.”
Living like this story is true means taking that next step of obedience, come what may.
