Blog No. 20 - Reading Time: 3:35

We had Connie Urban speak for us on Mother’s Day at Calvary. It might not have been as great as it could have been if I had chosen another date. It’s not just the fact that some were on vacation, some were out sick, and others had family engagements, but there seemed to be a loss of focus. We seemed to have our minds on other things, rather than allowing God to really use the time Connie and her husband Wade were with us.

I can’t fault those who were here. However, I guess I was expecting more of a response to the ministry that was available. Connie’s message revolved around how the events of our past guide us and prepare us for the moments we are now in. I concur. Many times I never understood how the things that transpired previously in my life prepared me for the future until I was standing in it drawing on the resources God had instilled in me from times past.

Avoiding the Issues

If we had our way, we would have avoided many of the things we have gone through in life. We would have sought out the path of least resistance and ran from many of the challenges we had to face. Still we recognize how the same things have made us stronger and wiser as a result of having dealt with them.

I digress, but Connie’s message hits home for many of us. Yet, we reflect on these things internally, but do not want the ministry of the Holy Spirit to point out these things publicly. We often retreat from these times of ministry afforded to us and steal away to privately reflect on what we felt and thought during the ministry of the Word and the presence of the Holy Spirit.

We encourage others to go up and receive ministry, yet we stand back and observe. Maybe we lack confidence in the one ministering. Maybe we want others to have a chance more than us. Maybe, just maybe, we don’t feel we are in that great of a need right now.

We’ve Lost Something

For me, I’m thinking we have lost a great deal of understanding toward the necessity of “body ministry.” There were times in the past that people flocked to the altars hoping that something, anything would happen to them. We were hungry for more of God, in whatever form he chose to reveal himself. Now we just seem to pick and choose and weigh each feeling and word of knowledge as if we could do just as well without it.

In short, we are only looking for certain things from the Lord, things that pertain to the things we are doing. It’s not about more of God, it’s about using him as a backup to our already functioning life maintained by our own human effort and willpower. If and when we fall short and can no longer figure out a way of our own, we will then call upon God to fill in the gap.

Dry Heat Hardened Soil

This is disheartening to me. So many good gifts from above not only go unopened, but not even received from the Father. I’ve found that when we respond to an invitation, God pours out so much more than we are expecting. Which leads me to a disturbing conclusion. We may want God to do something for us, but we do not want drastic change within us. We are asking God for a laundry list of things we want him to do, but to leave us undisturbed.

Finally, we don’t want change. Well, maybe a little, but not enough that others would notice that we didn’t have it all together in the first place. Besides, it’s others who need to change more than me. Isn’t it? Isn’t it?

Until next Monday, may the Lord bless you! Pray for us!

Pastor Brian Jenkins

Calvary Assemblies of God

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