Rewind — the teaching platform built on your church’s own preaching

The big idea

We don't have to know it all when we trust the One who holds it all.

When life or God's leading stops making sense, it isn't a sign that God has forgotten us. Pastor Daniel shows through Paul's confusing detours in Acts 16 that seasons of confusion are often where God is redirecting us, saving others through us, and teaching us to walk by faith rather than by understanding.

A story from life

Pastor Daniel recounts his family's process of sensing a call to Michigan, interviewing with a church there, and ultimately turning it down after losing all peace upon arrival

Sometimes the most frustrating part of following God is when you're doing something that God should be in

— Pastor Daniel Goulding

There is opportunity in confusion if you lean into it

— Pastor Daniel Goulding

Point 1 of 5

Paul had Timothy circumcised even though Acts 15 said Gentiles didn't need to be, because he was willing to lay down a freedom to remove a barrier to the gospel.

Pastor Daniel points out the seeming contradiction and explains Paul was protecting Timothy's access to Orthodox Jewish audiences. He applies this to American Christians, asking whether we're willing to lay down our rights and liberties when they become a hindrance to the gospel advancing.

Point 2 of 5

God uses confusion for navigation, not abandonment.

Paul, an experienced apostle who understood the voice of the Holy Spirit, was twice stopped from entering Asia and only found direction toward Macedonia through a night vision. Pastor Daniel notes that even seasoned believers can be redirected through seasons that leave them dumbfounded, and God uses that confusion to get them where they're actually supposed to be.

Point 3 of 5

God brought Paul to Europe to bring salvation to people from opposite ends of society: wealthy Lydia and an enslaved girl with nothing.

Lydia, a wealthy seller of purple cloth, still came seeking something her business and homes couldn't give her, and the Lord opened her heart. Days later a demon-possessed slave girl with no resources was set free when Paul, out of exasperation, cast the spirit out — showing the gospel reaches every socioeconomic background.

Illustration

Bill Gates interview in which Gates describes leaning into confusion rather than giving up as the key to breakthrough

Point 4 of 5

The very confusion and mistreatment Paul endured led directly to a jailer and his whole household being saved.

Paul and Silas, chosen for this mission specifically because they were Roman citizens, were illegally stripped, beaten, and imprisoned anyway. Pastor Daniel notes Paul didn't invoke his citizenship rights until later, because God was using the injustice itself to reach the jailer's household through the midnight earthquake and their conversion.

Point 5 of 5

Worship, not understanding, is the weapon for seasons that make no sense.

In the middle of their wounds and shackles, Paul and Silas chose to pray and sing hymns rather than strive to make sense of their situation. Pastor Daniel frames worship as spiritual warfare, the thing that keeps the heart anchored in God's goodness when circumstances argue otherwise.

God will use your pit to bring other people to their paradise

— Pastor Daniel Goulding

worship is our weapon

— Pastor Daniel Goulding

the greatest opportunities, the purest worship is often when you don't feel like it

— Pastor Daniel Goulding

Take it into your week

Lean into the confusion instead of giving up, redirecting, or moving on too fast.

Application

Don't take it personally
Remember God is writing a story across generations and countries; a season where you feel stuck doesn't mean He has forgotten you.
Don't lose sleep over it
Rest and stillness, not frantic understanding, is where God brings clarity, as it did for Paul in his vision at night.
Don't give up
Whether your confusion comes from outside circumstances or your own decisions, hold on — your best days are still ahead because God is not done.
Don't keep the message to yourself
Share the hope found in Jesus with the people around you, even in your lowest moments, trusting God to use your pit for someone else's freedom.
Refuse to stop singing
Like Paul and Silas in prison, choose to worship and declare God's goodness even when your circumstances tempt you to believe otherwise.

Keep going

Add Rewind to your Home Screen