When Pigs Fly Week 3: Miracles of Protection with Craig Groeschel

Long Before You Face a Problem, God Has a Plan

Scripture References

• Psalm 37:39
• Acts 16:22

Overview

Miracles do not stop at physical healing; God also works miracles of protection and deliverance. Yet that protection does not always look the way we expect. Craig Groeschel explores the tension between a God who can save and the painful moments when He does not, anchoring the message in the repeated truth:

“Long before you face a problem, God already has a plan.”

Through Scripture, recent national tragedy, and personal stories, he shows how worship, trust, and prayer remain the believer’s response whether God shields us from harm or carries us through it.

Context

• This sermon is part of a series on miracles (power over darkness, healing, protection).
• Preached days after a school shooting, heightening the question of why some are spared while others are not.

Main Points

God Can Rescue, Save, and Deliver

• Psalm 37:39 affirms that “the Lord rescues the godly; He is their fortress in times of trouble.”
• Biblical snapshots: Noah’s ark prepared before the rain, the fish ready for Jonah, the Red Sea path opened before Israel was trapped.
• Application: Long before the diagnosis, layoff, or heartbreak, God already has a provision in place.

Illustration: The Oklahoma City Bombing

• Story: On April 19, 1995 Groeschel should have been in an office adjacent to the Murrah Building; instead he was in a seminary make-up class miles away. His office was destroyed.
• Tension: If he was “protected,” what about the 168 people who died, including 19 children? God’s love for them was no less.

Paul and Silas—Protected in Prison, Not from Beating (Acts 16)

• Wrongly accused, stripped, and flogged despite Roman citizenship—no angelic rescue.
• At midnight, they prayed and sang hymns; other prisoners listened.
• Suddenly an earthquake opened doors and broke chains.
• The jailer, about to kill himself, was saved—physically and spiritually—along with his whole family.
• Lesson: Paul worshiped before the miracle, offering a “sacrifice of praise.”

Praising Before the Miracle

• Illustration: Amy Groeschel sensed God say, “Stop praying and start thanking Me” during their daughter Mandy’s two-year battle with chronic pain.
• Worship is not conditioned on visible outcomes; it is rooted in God’s unchanging character.

When God Does Not Protect the Way We Expect

• Paul was delivered from prison—until he wasn’t. Later he spent years incarcerated and was eventually beheaded under Nero.
• Ten of the twelve apostles were martyred; God’s eternal purposes sometimes diverge from our temporary plans.
• Quote-paraphrase of Paul’s writings from prison: rejoicing in suffering, delighting in weakness, convinced nothing separates us from God’s love.

God’s Hidden Protections

• Missed meetings, ungranted job offers, unanswered prayers—often covert safeguards.
• Illustration: Groeschel’s crushed hand ended baseball dreams, rerouted him to football, then to a scholarship, arrest, salvation, ministry call, and eventually Life.Church.

How Believers Respond

• Pray daily for divine protection over family, marriages, pastors, and children.
  Include requests for right influences and even early exposure when they stray (“God, let them get caught early”).
• Offer continual praise—when chains fall off and when they don’t.
• Trust that “God works in all things for the good of those who love Him,” even break-ups, breakdowns, losses, and wins.

Key Truths

• God’s ability to protect is unquestioned; His method and timing are His alone.
• Worship is a choice made before, during, and after any miracle.
• Unanswered or painful moments often forge the strongest faith and purpose.
• Eternal purposes can outweigh temporary comfort, yet God is always good.
• God promises His presence, not perpetual earthly safety.

Response

• Pray daily for specific protection over loved ones.
• Praise God in advance of the outcome you hope to see.
• Trust His character when His actions differ from your plans.
• Rejoice in weakness and hardship, allowing God’s strength to be displayed.
• Share the story of God’s faithfulness—both rescues and refinements—with others.

Closing

Groeschel urged the congregation to keep worshiping whether God parts the sea or allows the storm. Long before any crisis, God has already written redemption into the story; therefore we praise Him in the waiting and in the deliverance.

“We worship Him when we see His hand, and we worship Him when we don’t.”

Prayer

The congregation prayed for comfort for grieving families, for strengthened faith amid unanswered questions, and for forgiveness through Christ for those seeking salvation.

Resources

• Life.Church Next Steps (life.church/next)
• Life.Church App (available in app stores)