Avoiding the Need for God
“Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with David but had departed from Saul.” 1 Samuel 18:12We fear things beyond our control. The recession, job security, the future of our kids, etc. We also have a natural fear of submitting to God. Because God doesn’t always deliver like I think He should.
I remember a few years ago we prayed for 600 baptisms to happen in one year at Central. We had never reached anything remotely close to that number in a year. In fact, that was why we were praying for such a big change. It was an audacious (borderline humorous) prayer to actually pray. But we did. And the crazy thing was that we saw more than 1000 people baptized at Central that year.
Riding that wave of momentum I then launched a specific ministry goal that I had my team begin praying for. It was equally bold but I was excited to see God do it. I even made magnets as reminders for us to put on our refrigerator doors.
It never happened.
Instead of creating more spiritual momentum it drained me and left me stunned and confused on how to tackle big things in ministry. It was much safer to do things that I could control because then I could ensure that they would happen. But those are also much smaller things.
The challenge for Christians is to live in such a way that you constantly need God to show up for your plans to happen. In my experience, He doesn’t always deliver as expected. But I’ll still take that as long as I know that I’m trusting Him and open to what He wants to do. It isn’t perfect or simple or understandable. But it is the only authentic way to live out your faith.
We each must choose between the small and manageable or the audacious and God-driven. What is your choice?
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