Your Obstacle Is a Disguised Miracle: A King's Vision

Introduction

Two people can go through the exact same situation. They won't react the same way, get the same results, or experience it in the same way. The same circumstance can crush one person and cause the other to grow. So it isn't the situation itself that matters most, but the way you perceive it.

That's the conviction Junias Anane carries in this final message of a three part series on the theme "Lord, show me your glory." The conclusion is simple, and it concerns you directly: God hides his glory in the situations you go through, and he's waiting for you to search for it. He invites you to move from a slave mindset, which fixates on the problem, to a king's mindset, which searches out the treasure hidden inside.

The thread running through it all is a single verse: "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings" (Proverbs 25:2). And the question God keeps asking you is this one: "What do you see?"

Outline

1. Two mindsets facing the same problem

The series has drawn out two different ways of looking at what happens to us. The slave mindset fixates on how complicated the problem is. It magnifies the obstacle, talks about the problem, blows it out of proportion. The book of Proverbs calls someone like this a sluggard: "There is a lion outside! I shall be killed in the streets!" (Proverbs 22:13). Not only does he see lions everywhere, he sees himself as prey. He makes no effort to search, to look for what God has hidden in what he's going through.

The king's mindset does the exact opposite. It focuses on the treasure God has hidden inside the situation. It knows there's a treasure in any problem you go through, because Christ died to make us kings and priests. Being a king isn't just a position; it's a renewed mind, a change in how you look at things.

2. The key text: Romans 12:2 and the renewal of the mind

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:2).

Junias picks up this text in a paraphrased version: "Instead, let yourselves be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Take on a different inner attitude. Give your thoughts a new direction so you can discern what God wants from you. That way, you'll be able to recognize what is good in his eyes, what pleases him, and what will lead you into real maturity."

Paul wasn't writing to pagans. He was writing to God's children, to the church in Rome. You can be saved, you can be converted, without being transformed. The Lord wants you transformed in your mindset too: circumcision of the heart, and a transformed way of thinking.

3. Caleb: seeing milk and honey where others see giants

Twelve explorers are sent into the land of Canaan (Numbers 13, 14). Ten come back with a fearful report: "The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height... and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them" (Numbers 13:32, 33). They magnify the problem and see themselves as easy prey. Result: "Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night" (Numbers 14:1).

Caleb, on the other hand, didn't fix his attention on the giants. He looked at the blessing of the inheritance God had promised, that land flowing with milk and honey. He didn't see the milk flowing on the surface. He didn't see the honey flowing. But the eyes of faith let him understand that the treasure was hidden inside. That's the king's mindset: search, look, and end up feasting on the milk and honey that others never learned to see.

4. Samson: out of the eater came something to eat

Samson goes down to Timnah and a young lion comes roaring toward him. The Spirit of the Lord rushes upon him, and he tears it apart. Some time later, passing by again, he finds a swarm of bees and honey in the lion's carcass. He takes some, eats it, and gives some to his father and mother (Judges 14:5-9). Later, he poses his riddle to the Philistines: "Out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet" (Judges 14:14). For seven days, no one can figure it out.

Today, in just a few minutes, the Spirit lets you understand it. Samson is telling you that inside the very thing that devours, inside what you fear, there's a hidden treasure. Facing his lion, he didn't see himself as prey. He saw the honey that would come out of that fight, and that's why he didn't run. In whatever situation you're going through, don't run: there's a treasure inside that will become your delight.

5. David: when you look at Goliath, what do you see?

On the battlefield, David hears the promise attached to the giant's head: "The king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel" (1 Samuel 17:25). So when David looks at Goliath, he no longer sees Goliath. He sees wealth, he sees a beautiful wife, he sees his whole family's debts wiped out. He's disarmed... by what he sees behind the obstacle. The giant is already dead before the stone even leaves the sling.

It's the same lesson: your obstacle is a disguised miracle. The Red Sea was a disguised miracle. The fiery furnace was a disguised miracle. The lions' den was a disguised miracle. So was Goliath. The Lord always hides something great behind whatever frightens you.

6. God hides his power in your weakness

To the apostle Paul, who pleaded because of his thorn, the Lord answered: "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). Where has God hidden his power? In our weakness. So when you're weak, look for the treasure God has hidden in your weakness. Your inabilities become like a button that triggers God's power. Paul adds: "I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

7. The eye of faith: "What do you see?"

Jesus says: "The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness" (Matthew 6:22, 23). When you give your heart to Christ, you also have to give him your mind, your thoughts, and your eyes. It's with the eye of faith that Samson sees the honey, that Caleb sees the milk and honey, that Moses sees deliverance. Facing your own lion, the question remains: "What do you see?"

8. The final treasure: Jesus Christ

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field" (Matthew 13:44). That treasure is Jesus Christ. If you're in Christ, you've already found it. And Jesus said: "Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom" (Luke 12:32). The kingdom has already been given to you, along with Jesus Christ. You can rejoice right now.

Key takeaways

The problem isn't the problem. What makes the difference is how you perceive the situation.
Two mindsets, two outcomes. The slave fixates on the lion; the king searches out the treasure hidden behind it.
Renewing your mind isn't optional. You can be saved without being transformed. God wants your mindset too.
Your obstacle is a disguised miracle. The Red Sea, the furnace, the lions' den, Goliath: every giant hides a promise.
God's power is hidden in your weakness. The very thing you'd want to run from is exactly where his grace unfolds.

Personal application

What "lion" is roaring in front of you today? Name it specifically.
When you look at it, what do you really see: prey that you are, or a treasure to be searched out?
On what specific point do you need to ask God for a renewed way of thinking?
Where, in your current weakness, is God inviting you to look for his power rather than run from it?
Can you, this week, stop "weeping all night" over your problem and instead get up and search out what God has hidden inside it?

Verses cited

FAQ

What exactly does it mean to "have a king's mindset" in this message?

It's a change in how you look at things, not a social status. Christ died to make us "kings and priests." The king's mindset means searching out the treasure God has hidden in a situation, instead of stopping at the visible problem. It's a renewal of the mind by the Holy Spirit (Romans 12:2), not a posture of superiority.

How do you square "your obstacle is a disguised miracle" with the reality of suffering?

The message doesn't deny the pain. Junias reminds us that you're allowed to weep, just not "all night long." Like David at Ziklag, you weep a little, then you pull yourself together and go reclaim what the enemy stole. Saying the obstacle hides a miracle isn't minimizing the trial: it's refusing to let fear have the last word over the promise.

In practical terms, how do I renew my mind day to day?

By giving your thoughts, your eyes, and your mind to Christ, just as you gave him your heart. By meditating on the Word and speaking it out loud, so it never leaves your mouth (Joshua 1:8). And by explicitly asking the Holy Spirit to transform you, with the prayer Junias offers: "Spirit of the living God, take hold of me and transform me by the renewing of my mind, so that I may search out, discover, and possess the hidden treasures that God has given me as an inheritance by his grace."

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