Worshiping the Lord this morning He brought to my mind the way that I have had to relentlessly pursue families from school in this season. The goal is to hear from every family every week for the remainder of the school year. It has been frustrating and hard. Many messages, emails, phone calls, voicemails, and even letters have gone out and I still haven't heard from multiple families. It's tiring and I start to ask why in the world I need to jump through so many hoops for these people who don't seem to care, and then I heard the voice of the Lord.
"I'm chasing after you, but you have to turn and look at me. You have to stop running to what the world tells you is good and look at my face.
My resurrection power is not what the world tells you it should look like. Its fierce and true, and its in my timing, in my way. I've been chasing you. I've been calling to you, but you have to turn. Some of you think you're running with me, but you haven't stopped to look and see where I have taken you in this. My child, running with me is looking at me. Don't just yell my name and run forward without the direction of my face leading you.
Repentance is part of the action I am calling you to. Repenting is stopping, looking at me, and falling back into step with where I am taking you. This is a season of repentance and a re-centering of your life on me. I love you. I want more for you than you could ever know or imagine--so stop the empty movement and just look at me. There is direction for your life coming in a season where it feels like there is no direction at all. I love you my child," says God.
There are families that contacted me before I ever had the chance to pursue them. There are families that responded after one message from me, some after two, and so on. Then there are the families that have yet to respond.
I just believe that there are people in the church who immediately went to Jesus with everything in this season. All of their fears, ambitions, all of their faith and hope, everything. They immediately found that their whole heart was resting in Jesus and it propelled them forward in movement. In serving. In praying. In battling through this season.
There are the people in the church who first were distracted by the noise of the world and then they heard the call of the Lord and they turned. They re-centered and now they are faithfully looking to Jesus and following His steps forward.
But I believe there are still people--even within the church--that are running without the step of re-centering their eyes on Jesus. They're moving and it might even seem "good". They may be serving, and praying, and doing all the right things, but God is saying "Look at me in your serving. Look at me in your praying. Look at me in this season and fall into step with me."
He is the resurrecting God and I believe on this resurrection Sunday He is speaking clearly to His children. He wants to be intimate with you this morning. He wants to direct you forward, but it starts with actively stopping and turning to Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment