FollowBy Brian Sharpe
Arriving in the evening before the big hike, we set up camp for the night. Early morning came, and we prepared for the hike. I had never led a trip up the side of a mountain before, but the guys wanted to do it. We started out, and it took about three hours to get to the top of Mt. St. Helens. I was hot and tired. Not knowing what to expect, I had brought too many clothes up the mountain, which made my pack heavy. Here I was at the top of Mount St. Helens, peering over the edge into the bowl, thinking to myself, “I could have just seen this in a postcard.” I was at the top of a mountain that had erupted just over 20 years ago, and I was not in awe of God’s creation. I was focused on the fact that I was tired and still had to hike back down. Tomina likes to comment how I am not good at living in the moment. I am very quick at wanting to move on to the next thing. Which means I miss a lot.
I almost missed out on something huge that God was doing at Challenge this year, but God didn’t let me. If it was up to me, I would have moved too quickly toward bed, because I was so tired. But instead, God intervened and showed me that I need to stop moving so quickly and live in the moment, because he was working in that moment. I had been on this trip before. I had seen God do the normal things on this trip in years past. I expected him to do the same things on this trip. He had different plans. He wanted to show me that he works in crazy ways still. Being in youth ministry for over 20 years has given me a veteran cynicism that isn’t healthy. God took my cynicism and turned it into wonder. God showed up in a way that I had not seen in 20 years of ministry. This past trip to Challenge reminded me why I went into ministry. God still works in crazy ways. I got to see that firsthand, and I would have missed it if it was left up to me.
I feel like this happens every Sunday. We show up to church because it is what we are supposed to do, but do we expect God to do anything on Sunday? I want to change the way I view Sunday. I want to encourage us to view Sundays differently. God is active, and I want to see what He is doing, so I want us to come every Sunday expecting to see God do something amazing. I want to wake up every morning, seeking God and watching for Him to do something crazy. It may not happen every day, but it does happen, and I don’t want to miss it because I am too busy going from one thing to the next, going through the motions of my life.
And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. (Acts 2:44-47, NLT)
I want to see this happen at Elim, where God is adding to our fellowship those who are being saved because we are actively seeking Him and expecting Him to show up in crazy ways, which will lead to people coming to the saving knowledge of Christ. Let’s not lose sight of the fact that God is always at work. He wants to do crazy things in our church and community if we are actively seeking Him. I am not sure what He is going to do, but I don’t want to miss out because I was to busy going through the motions.
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