Good bye Tetons and hello western PA! The scenery has changed slightly. I can no longer gawk at the mountains and say, “Wow, it’s soooo pretty!”, but PA isn’t all that bad. We have a few hills… (To those of you still in Wyoming, send the mountains my love.)
I think the change in my physical state of being is about as big as the change of my emotional and mental state. I’ve finished one ministry, and I’m about to embark on another. To be honest, the World Race seems to be a larger challenge than working in a national park where I have lived before and with a ministry with which I am very familiar. And I’m floored by the fact that God has called ME to be part of this amazing trip! To think that He can use ME to change lives for His glory. I’m honored.
Through World Racers God plant churches, heals all types of sicknesses, speaks truth with prophesies and words of knowledge, brings deliverance, and so much more. And I’m called to be a part of that? Woah. As I was wrapping my time up in the Tetons, I started to think more and more about the race. I started to wonder how I am supposed to be a part of all of that. He reassured me several ways.
It started with a friend. All summer he was telling me that I should preach on Peter walking on water. “That’s great,” I told him. “We all love that story, and there’s so many awesome things that can be revealed through it, but I don’t have a fresh take on it. I’m not sure where to go with it.”
I was also reading Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell (which is a great book by the way!) One chapter talks about the process to becoming a rabbi during Jesus’ life on earth. There were two levels of education for Jewish kids. At the end of each level only the best of the best continued on. Talk about a highly selective process! Anyone who wasn’t passed on went back to learn the family trade (like fishing.) After making it through both levels each student had to find a rabbi who would take him on as a disciple. When choosing a disciple the rabbi had to answer a few questions. Can he do what I do? Can he spread my teachings? Can he be like me? Does he have what it takes?
Woah. All of a sudden, Jesus choosing fishermen and tax collectors has a whole new meaning! Jesus chose his disciples because he believed that they can be like him and that they could do what he was doing. Think about that. Jesus has called US to do His work because He believes that we can do it. He believes that we have what it takes – we can teach His teachings and we can do what He did on earth too! I am floored.
I finally preached about walking on water at my final service. Looking at the event through a new lense, I have a whole new appreciation and understanding of it. Peter didn’t sink because he lost faith in Jesus. Jesus was walking on water right in front of him! He didn’t need faith to believe that Jesus was capable. He started to sink because he lost faith that he could be like Jesus and that he could do what Jesus was doing. You did not choose me but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. John 15:16
I also tied in Esther’s story, but I’ll leave it to you to read Esther and make some connections. Just realize that Esther wasn’t operating on her own. God had been working behind the scenes for quite a while.
I’ll leave you with an excerpt from Velvet Elvis. He says it much better than I can.
If the rabbi calls you to be his disciple, then he believes you can actually be like him. As we read the stories of Jesus’ life with his talmidim, his disciples, what do we find frustrate him to no end? When his disciples lose faith in themselves. He even says to them at one point, “You did not choose me, but I chose you.”
Let’s spend some time here, because the implications of this truth are astounding. A rabbi would only pick a disciple who he thought could actually do what he was doing. Notice how many places in the accounts of Jesus’ life he gets frustrated with his disciples. Because they are incapable? No, because of how capable they are. He sees what they could be and could do, and when they fall short, it provokes him to no end. It isn’t their failure that’s the problem; it’s their greatness. They don’t realize what they are capable of.
God has called me to this trip because he believes that I am capable of allowing him to do mighty works through me. God has called you for another purpose because he believes you to be capable as well. Do you have faith that you can be like him? Are you allowing him to work through you? Are you open to that? Are you limiting God by what YOU believe you are capable of?
