It would be easy to navigate life if every problem, every pain, and every setback came with a telegraph that enabled us to prepare for their arrival. But often our greatest struggles come with the least warning and feel like the greatest threat to our future. Even the most committed Christians find themselves in seasons that challenge their faith, shake their hopes, and make them fearful when thinking of the future. In Acts 8, the church experienced an unprecedented season of persecution, pain, and chaos. One of their leaders, Stephen, had been killed. The believers were being hunted. Their lives were being threatened. In addition to the fear and frenzy, Saul was wreaking havoc in the church.
But following this season of being persecuted and terrorized, Acts 9:31 reveals that God changed the trajectory of their lives with two words: after this! After the pain, the fear, the loss, the misery, after the confusion and chaos, God decided it was time to change their season. The season of struggle that seemed like it would last forever had an expiration date! Like the early church, we must see that no matter how tough the situation we've walked through has been, it will not end there! There is a blessing and breakthrough coming after this!
After This is an encouraging compass that points us to all that is waiting for us in the next season of our lives. It is a prophetic word revealing that this coming shift is a transition into a time of peace, multiplication, comfort, and strength. After the misery, after the mess, after the divorce, after the breakup, after the bankruptcy, after the failure--even after COVID-19--there is an "after this" coming that will change everything for those who belong to God.
