When God speaks to you, it is to you

In "Starting Well: Building a Strong Foundation for a Lifetime of Ministry," one of the authors shares an interesting anecdote about faithfulness and responding to God, related to a small group that he had recently joined:

After the first month or so, the group began to grow. About three months into the group, there were about 10 or 12 people attending. It was around this time that God gave me a 'faithfulness test.' While I was hurrying to get ready to go to the group, I felt that God showed me a picture in my mind's eye of what He wanted to do during the ministry prayer time at the end of the meeting. In this little vision, I saw and heard what God was doing with the others and I saw myself leading this prayer time. It was very vivid. It was also one of the first times that I had ever received a word picture from God like this. I got to the group a couple of minutes early and 'interrupted' the prayer preparation that I had seen and what I thought it meant. I left out the part about me leading the ministry time. The leaders of the group encouraged this kind of participation from the group members so they weren't put off by what I shared.

At the end of the teaching time, the leader of the group shared a part of the word picture that I had shared with him and asked us to respond to God. We all tried to respond to God and waited for God to release the Holy Spirit's power. Nothing happened. Around this time, I snuck a quick glance at the leader, who was looking right at me. Inside I thought, well so much for that idea. I felt a little embarrassed. Just at that point, I heard a voice inside my head say, 'I asked you to lead this time, not the leader of the group.' I knew at that point that I had to respond to this voice. I broke the silence of the group and shared what I thought I had just heard. I shared that I felt a little unsure and insecure about what I was doing but I felt that I needed to take a risk and go for it. I lead the group in prayer and waited. God responded. Exactly what I had seen in the word picture happened. I was a little overwhelmed.

That's an interesting "faithfulness test." I'm sure that the author has experienced more tests that have stretched him even further.

How to stop worrying

Every so often I post material from my church. Last week's sermon, "How to Stop Worrying," was really useful. Here's what our pastor recommends:

* Worry is defeated as we change our focus.

* Focusing on God.

* Talking to God.

* Trusting in God.

* Worry is defeated as we change our thinking.

* Take every thought captive in the name of Jesus.

* We are not God. We are not in control.

* Worry is defeated as we change our responses.

* The promise of peace.

The Bible passage that was emphasized during the sermon was Philippians 4:4-9. It's an excellent passage that helps us reorient our focus.

The death of a child bringing glory to God

On. pp. 137-138 of "Starting Well: Building a Strong Foundation for a Lifetime of Ministry," there is a sad story about a man who was a pastor and had a sick daughter. He had heard from God, who said that He was going to use the man's daughter to bring glory to His name. The daughter died.

...God uses situations, like his daughter's death, to shape his leaders. God was shaping him. He said that on the day she died, he remembered something that we had said in September about responding to God in a crisis. He chose to go deep with God. He knows that God is with him in the pain. God is providing strength for him. He is experiencing God's love in a new way.

At the end of our conversation, he said one thing that I'll never forget. He said, 'God was right when He said that He was going to receive glory through my daughter. At the time that God told me that, I thought He was talking about healing my daughter. I didn't realize that God was talking about my response to Him in this situation. My choosing to embrace the pain and to embrace God (going deep with God) is the means God is using to receive glory. My response in this situation is speaking louder than any words I've ever preached about God.' We embraced again and I was deeply moved.

This story is about the power of perspective. This precious pastor chose to embrace God and learn about Him. The situation that the pastor and his family are facing together is tragic and it hurts. He said that he (and his family) were still in the process of grieving her loss. We don't understand why God allows certain things to happen. But when we face crisis situations or difficult and challenging situations, we must respond. We can go deep into God or we can turn from Him.

This story reminds me of my friends, Tom and Deb Henderson, who lost their son Ian this year. I have heard stories of people finding God through seeing their response to the tragic situation.