08/10/2015
DON'T STOP IN THE HALLWAY!!!
I certainly can identify with this father in Mark 9:24 when he said, "Lord I believe, help my unbelief" NASB. Yes Lord I trust you.... totally trust You... come on You know I trust You.... but could You help me with me with this unbelief thing I got going on right now. The bible says, "without faith it is impossible to please God". Every good bible believing, card caring Christian wants to be a man or woman of faith. I'd like to think I would do anything the Lord asks, but what does it look like to be a person of faith? Great question. I think being a person of faith preaches a lot better than often lived out. Just saying!
I had a conversation with a friend of mine this week that is dealing with this very issue. It's the conversation where you feel like the Lord has called you to something else or is opening another opportunity but in order to move from one doorway to another there is usually the hallway in between. Its not leaving one room and entering another that is the problem for most of us its the almighty hallway in between the doors that kills us. What if I walk through one doorway and the other doorway doesn't open as I expect? The outcome is that we feel stranded in the hallway.
So what does that hallway look like? Well somewhere in that hallway is fear. Fear of failure, fear of what others will think, fear of the unknown. Yes, many of us never get out of the boat because we have become very comfortable with what we already know and we are afraid of that which we are not comfortable with. Walking on water has never been done before, walking on water is irrational, defies gravity and lacks common sense. All good arguments unless the Lord is calling us to come.
So what else is in that hallway? How about control. Because control is driven by fear, many of us don't want to step out into the unknown because we can not see the future through the eye of faith. Many of are comfortable with the present and don't fully trust God with their future. Why? There are many reasons, but one is because we have been hurt in the past so I must control my outcome to maintain a secure and safe future. Does that sound familiar? As a result of wanting to control our future, we miss out on opportunities to make a difference and blessings from the Lord because we couldn't fully trust Him or others.
What else is in that hallway? How about lack of security. This is a big one. God can't possibly be asking me to do this because I don't have the money. Or what am I going to do if the money doesn't come in? Lord your asking me to dig into my savings account and fund this new venture? We miss many an opportunity because of the security money gives us. I am not saying that we should not be wise stewards with the resources God has given us. But I am saying that the resources God has given us are directly from Him anyways and as we surrender those finances to Him, He will always take care of us.
There are many more items in that hallway we could discuss but fear, control and security might be the big 3 which all stem from fear.
So what does it look like to trust God? I don't really have a clear definition to be honest with you. I like to think that I am a person of faith, but then why do I worry so much about the issues going on in my life? If I truly trusted God, would I still worry? I feel like I can identify with this man in the bible who said to Jesus. "Lord I believe, help my unbelief". Did Peter have faith when he walked on water but then sank? Sure seemed like he did but then why did he sink? I don't know. But this I do know at least he tried and that was more than the other 11 in the boat did.
I don't think my faith is always at a level 10. But I would like to think that I am trying to walk at that level. I recently started a new ministry called revivenetwork.com which is going to be renamed on September 26th to asonemovement.com. I have been greatly impacted by Lance Wallnau and the message he carries. I believe the church should be impacting our culture and I don't believe we are doing very well at it. So I have started an organization along with a good friend of mine, Scott Lundgren to "mobilize the church to engage the culture so we can see our cities impacted and our cultures transformed". This has been a very scary venture for me. It is taken a quite a lot of resources to get this organization off the ground. But beyond that I wrestle with the hallway of emotions. What if I fail, what if I look like a fool, am I playing with my families financial security? I should just get a 'real' job like most everyone else....
We have our first event coming up in Dayton, Ohio September 24-25th. I need this conference to be a success numerically, financially. But more than that I need and want this message to impact the lives of those coming. What if none of the above happens? I wrestle with all these emotions and fears but at the end of the day I have to rest in the fact that I know I heard God say, "start this ministry".
If I don't know anything else, I know that God is FAITHFUL!. That I can trust. So when we are moving from one doorway to the other doorway... don't stop in the hallway, keep moving onward! Keep focused on His voice. "Faithful is He who calls you and He also will bring it to pass". I Thes. 5:24
As One,
Jerry
P.S. I want everyone to know that I just started a new page 2 days ago at facebook.com/asonemovement. I will be posting my thoughts, ministry updates and other fun stuff on this page from now on so please go and like the page and please help me let others know about it. We can change the world together.
AsOne works to mobilize the church and its leaders to engage the culture and see cities transformed
