The Event

A sweet young lady called me recently to ask if I would head up prayer for a women’s event our church is having in the fall….someone had recommended me. You know my first thought? “Oh man, I’m not real good at that.” I'm 60. I've been praying for years..I should be good at that. So is being good at it the the reason I'll do it or not do it? Do you only obey God if you're good at it?

Problem is my statement fits with a quote from the book Radical by David Platt.

“We Christians are living out the American dream in the context of our communities of faith. We have convinced ourselves that if we can position our resources and organize our strategies, then in church as in every other sphere of life, we can accomplish anything we set our minds to.”

He continues, “But what is strangely lacking in the picture of performances, personalities, programs and professionals is desperation for the power of God. God’s power is at best an add on to our strategies. I am frightened by the reality that the church I lead can carry on most of our activities smoothly, efficiently, even successfully, never realizing that the Holy Spirit of God is virtually absent from the picture.”

It is important to remember that God does give every believer a spiritual gift when he/she becomes a child of God that is to be used to grow and enrich the church. Whether teacher, administrator, a person of mercy, a giver…whatever… it is to give the church order and structure and meet all the needs of the church.

What we tend to do with these gifts however, is to run with them on our own much like David Platt was talking about. If our gift is teaching, we can stand up in front of a crowd and teach with our heart rate at a steady 60 almost by the seat of our pants. If our gift is administration, we can organize an entire Vacation Bible School for 800 kids and actually sleep the night before it begins. If it’s hospitality, we can cook for the homeless on Thanksgiving and be confident it will taste good and we will not run out of food. And we tend to forget….that the gift to do all this was not because we’re just so wonderful, it was from God. He was the Source of it and He is the one who empowers me to flesh that gift out.

I’m reminded of that every time I teach. I’ll read the passage and print it out on a fresh clean sheet of paper. I’m always acutely aware of the fact that there is no way I am smart enough, well read enough, articulate enough to pull this all together in a coherent lesson. Yet each week, as the Holy Spirit works, it just all comes together. Verses come to mind, passages that complement the one I’m studying, lessons, principles I’ve learned, replay and I’m so excited by the time the class rolls around, I don’t even care if anybody shows up or not. The coming together of the lesson was so not me, it doesn’t even matter what anyone else thinks, I’m pumped!

But every once in awhile, I think God throws in a “would you lead prayer for this event,” kind of thing. Teaching is one thing. Prayer is different. Even though I’ve prayed for years, to stand up in front of a group of 5 or 50 and not just say a prayer, I can do that…but to lead them to the Throne of Grace so everyone in that room knows they have not only been in the presence of God, they have actually spoken to Him, is quite another. To challenge women to recognize God as an intimate part of every aspect of their particular job and expect Him to fill every need, every idea, every thought is another. To trust that he in fact will do that for them when I tell them he will, takes it to another level entirely. That would take …. God…to do that. There’s nothing in me that can do that. Isn’t that the way we’re supposed to feel…all the time?

I sit down with only a Bible and say, “Ooooookaaaaaay. What exactly do you want me to say, God?”

Like what if he doesn’t say anything? I think that’s always the concern isn’t it…about a lot of things?

But I’m talking about an assignment I know was from Him. This wasn’t one of those, “You’re a nurse, so can you be the camp nurse? ” or “You’re a teacher, so can you teach VBS?” “You’re a mom, so can you do the nursery?” This was one of those totally not because you’re so good at this but you know God’s telling you to do it things. No guilt. Just direction. Two different things.

I sat down a couple of days later with my Daily Bible to read. I was in 1 Chronicles.

King David had called a group together to review plans and instructions God had given him for the building of the temple. It was interesting that he met with his son, commanders, generals, captains but he also included overseers of the royal property and livestock too...so a diverse group just like those assembled for our ladies event.

He told them first, to" get to know the God of your ancestors. Worship and serve Him with your whole heart and with a willing mind for the Lord sees every heart and understands and knows every plan and thought." (1 Chron 28:9 NLT) Interesting that those were the instructions before he hands them the first plan.

He then gives them the plans and says in vs 20, "Be strong and courageous and do the work. Don't be afraid or discouraged by the size of the task, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. He will see to it that all the work (related to the temple of the Lord) is finished correctly."

Think that applies to our little deal? Absolutely. The first priority for this little core group of women, is to worship and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind.....to be quiet before Him every morning so the plans they are making and executing are His plans. He sees and knows every thought and we want our plans to originate with Him and play out under His supervision just as much as the plans for the temple.

Then, He promises He will be with us, not fail or forsake us and He, Himself will see to it that all the work is finished correctly.

I stand amazed in the Presence.