Welcome back,
If you are reading this blog and haven’t read my last blog post pleaseclick here and read since this is a continuation…unless you are really lazy in which case I’m sure this blog will still be beneficial.
Some people ask me what is either my favorite or the hardest part of squad leading. My answer is the same, it’s being in the position where I am responsible for hearing the voice of the Lord on behalf of my squad and in turn finding ways to facilitate and replicate in the squad what God is speaking to me. Now hear me out, this isn’t an every decision, controlling, cultish oracle type position. I fully expect every member on my squad to listen to God’s voice on their own, but with the authority and respect I have been given, God does speak to me in different ways or more importantly my ears are open to listen in different ways. I am daily walking into new areas of battling on behalf of my squad in the spiritual realm and learning how to interpret the convictions God gives me. Way back when we gathered at training camp God lit us on fire and kicked us in the butt onto the mission field and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I think we are just landing from that and a lot of the impurities have burnt away. Now we have a choice to go further up and further in or just coast. Since you can’t coast uphill we have to go further up and in.
Figuring this out, however, isn’t even the half. I knew my squad needed to go further but how? This is where I started realizing how impossible my job actually was. God has confirmed from the beginning that coming together as brothers and sisters would bring us to awesome places this year.
But we can’t JUST come together. People come together often and many times it ends up worse than before. We NEED to unite as a body.
But we can’t JUST unite as a body. There are dysfunctional united bodies (or churches) everywhere that aren’t effective. We NEED to move as a body with all our parts.
But we can’t JUST move. A body of people moving together doesn’t mean we are gaining ground. We NEED to move with direction for victory.
Starting to see why this is impossible?
Any one of these is tough enough to accomplish in and of themselves. This realization is what caused the “throw up my hands” attitude that I mentioned last blog. But God is faithful and he has shown so much grace and not only spoken the “where to” but also the “how to”. 
As simple as it seems, the “how to” move as a body in the direction God wants us to is completely based on LOVE. It is such a loaded word but when it comes down to it we can only move if everyone agrees to put love first and sacrifice to move little towards everyone else and “submit to” or “out serve” one another. The best way I can describe this is like a tornado where every part is moving around in unison internally while the tornado as a whole has direction. It’s also sucks you in, is unpredictable, leaves a lot of effects in its wake, and has peace at the center. In the body there shouldn’t be any member moving independent of the rest even though it may seem affective, it doesn’t have the fullness or the power that God desires.
I asked my squad the other Sunday to switch their mind set. It is so easy to come on the Race and think about all of the things you want to see God do and happen through you. I asked them not what they were willing to see and do but what they were willing to give up in order for the whole body to move as God’s church bringing his Kingdom instead of individuals. Are we willing to sacrifice the glory of winning small battles for that of a victorious war? As a sheep are we willing to work with the flock and not speed ahead to the green pasture? These are all good things and people need every bit of God’s Kingdom they can get, but could there be more? Green grass is beneficial, but if you’re the only sheep there it can be a lonely place. This isn’t a decision between good and bad. It’s one between good and great.
It’s not an easy decision to make either. Of course we want the end result but are we willing to do what it takes to fight and gain the victory. The hard and best part is that we don’t fight a battle of flesh and blood and this is a battle that most of us are not used to. We fight all we can in the physical to no avail and many times give up the battle instead of giving in to the strength of the Lord. This is the reason Paul begins his “Armor of God” section with “Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.” Not much room left for our strength huh?
When it comes down to it our squad is taking steps in this direction, it’s just most of us aren’t used to being a part of an army. We are used to our independent, self filling, self made faith that many Americans struggle with. For our squad to break down these strongholds or stereotypes and move ahead and for me to have the privilege of leading this movement…impossible doesn’t even come close to describing it.
Isn’t it great that we serve a God who only requires us to borrow his strength and doesn’t expect us to be equipped before we are used.
