Exactly a month ago, we began a new year. And with the new year, just like every year, came lots and lots of New Year’s Resolutions.
So I’m gonna be honest: I’m not a huge fan of New Years Resolutions. I never have been. Don’t get me wrong. I totally see the good they bring for a lot of people; the new year pushes some folks to make some seriously awesome changes in their lives. But why does it have to be the new year? Why put so much pressure on a single day? Why wait until 2015 for what you could’ve accomplished in 2014?
Fitness is always a crowd favorite, so I’ll use that to illustrate my point. Say in October you decide that you want to start working out again and really get healthy. Does it honestly make sense to wait til January to get that gym membership? Why not start right away? Is there any difference, besides three months less of fitness and three months more of an unhealthy body? It sure seems like waiting til January 1st is just an excuse to avoid putting in the effort to make the positive change you wanted in your life, and three months after you decided you wanted to get in shape, you’re still sitting there all out of shape. Woof. So why wait?
Well…in the middle of last month, I was sitting there mindlessly thinking about how crowded the gyms probably are and wondering how many new gym members have already thrown in the towel, when I came across 2 Corinthians 6:2:
For he says,
“In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.”
I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.
I realized I’ve so often treated my relationship with Jesus just like one of these New Year’s Resolutions. Whenever I felt a certain conviction or felt like I needed to change something in my life, I was always waiting for some special time to allow Him to change me. I waited til the next semester, waited til camp, waited til the Race, and even on the Race waited til the next week or month… But Jesus doesn’t want us to wait; He doesn’t want plans to pursue Him. He wants us to truly and actively pursue Him now! There’s no right time to pursue Jesus other than all the time. The time is now.
Patience is important, yes. We can’t expect God to just give us things the moment we ask for them. But we also can’t expect to see change in our lives if we aren’t willing to work for it, willing to pursue it. When we pray and hope for change, we must go after that change.
As I processed all these thoughts this month, I realized I needed to shift my thinking. There’s still a lot on this Race I hope to see and experience, but until now I haven’t really been pursuing it. I haven’t really even been praying for it much. I figured the growth and the encounters would just come in due time on the journey. But why should I be content sitting around and waiting? If I want to see radical healing, I shouldn’t just twiddle my thumbs and hope it happens across my path; I should make it my path. I should boldly ask the Lord every day to work in that way through me, follow the Spirit’s lead, and go after opportunities to heal people! I have all kinds of dreams like this for the Race and beyond, so, inspired by my dear squadmate Sprads, I started writing them out. I pray for them every day, and I’m gaining the boldness to pursue them every day. They’re things I used to think were too radical for me to do, but I now have a growing confidence in the God in me. So I’m praying for big things.
I call them my Impossible Prayers for 2015. Here are a few: Lead someone to Christ; Fall deeply, intimately in love with God; See Jesus radically heal someone through my hands; Play with monkeys (gotta have fun, too!); Go to an underground church; Meet a brother or sister in another country who becomes a lifetime friend; Prophesy over a stranger; Be completely overcome by His presence; Be a minister of deliverance – look the devil in the eye and prove to him that Jesus is King!
So here’s my encouragement to you: Whatever you feel Jesus is putting on your heart – go after it! Don’t be afraid, because He’s there and He’s excited to walk through it with you! Pursue Him, and pursue Him now.
What are you waiting for?
