“I am the good shepherd; I know my
sheep and my sheep know me – just as the Father knows me and I know
the Father – and lay down my life for the sheep.” – John
10:14-15
Tomorrow my team heads to Swaziland to
meet up with the rest of the squad for 8 days of debrief. I’ve been
in Capetown, South Africa for the last four weeks simply sitting and
being. It has been a month unlike any other. We had no formal
ministry. No church services. No demands. We prayed a bunch; more
than I ever have before. I saw the Lord heal a dancer’s torn
ligaments. We had a lot of good time together as a team, becoming
more like a family. And other than that, we woke up every morning,
walked out onto the deck, and sat. listened. talked. and heard our
Father say, “I’m so glad you came to sit with me today.”
Most, if not all, of us world racers
came on this journey for the experience. We want to see God move in
the world, changing lives and healing people. We want to see Him do
what we’ve read about in scripture for so long. The I AM who worked
in supernatural, kingdom ways everywhere He was. And we want to see
Him move in our lives, changing us into those radical world changers
we all dream of being. I am right there in the mix of all that. And
yet I was asked a question at the beginning of this month that has
wrecked me: Is He enough regardless of what we ever see Him do, in us
or others? Is He enough just because of who He is?
When you starting getting honest about
that question, it can hurt. I realized this month just how little I
want to sit and how much I want to do. It can be hard to break out
of that American mentality that we always have to be doing something
and if we’re not, then we’re being lazy. The truth of the matter is
that we, as the church, can do so much stuff without first sitting
and listening, that we completely miss out on what God’s purpose and
direction was. We miss His plan when all we care about is our own
agenda.
I desire to live in light of the fact
that my Heavenly Father is truly enough for me; that I lack and need
nothing apart from Him. I keep thinking of the glory that would come
from His body if we began living out the truth that He is enough
regardless of what we see or what He does. Once we know Him as the
one who fills all our needs, we no longer claim anything as our right
because it’s no longer something of necessity. It is then that we
will begin living with our life laid out for His sheep around us.
Most of us know so much about Him and
have missed out on actually knowing intimately His heart. We can
read all about the Lord being love in scripture, but how many times
do we sit and listen to Him speak it to us? What I am learning more
and more is just how deeply God desires to be intimately known by His
people. He loves it when we sit and “be” before the His feet.
Not bringing a list of things to do. Not even bringing your Bible.
But just sitting in His presence. That is when life will become less
about what God does and more about who He is.
