God seems to show up in the most unexpected times and unexpected ways. I think He loves to catch us off-guard to see how we respond, to let whatever is inside us spill out for a second. Just the other day God came and interrupted my plans just to see what was going to come out. Though before I get to that story, I was reminded of an illustration about those moments when we get “bumped” a little bit and when God comes and shakes things up.
In this illustration, this speaker took out a cup, and a vase of water, he set them on a table and he sarted to fill the cup with water. He started to talk about how the cup represented ourselves and the water represented what we fill ourselves with. He listed off a number of things we commonly fill ourselves with. Some of them were good things, God’s Word, thankfulness, how we can love others, you get the idea. Other things the speaker mentioned were not so good, jealousy, unforgiveness, anger, again I think you get the idea. As he was describing all of these things he let the water pour slowly, but consistently until the cup was full to the brim. The cup was so full that you could see the surface tension of water creating a gentle sphere around the rim of the cup. Then the speaker started to walk around and talk about daily life and the things we face everyday. All of the sudden, someone came walking by the speaker and bumped his arm and the inevitable happened, the water spilled from the cup. This interaction made what was in the cup, (without this person’s choice) come out of the cup. The speaker made the point that whatever we “fill” ourselves with, comes out when we get “bumped” by people or by God.
Have you ever been “bumped” by someone or God and it not go so well?
I wont ask you to raise your hand because right now you’re just stairing at a screen but I have a hunch that like me, you’ve had some bad “bump” moments with people and with God.
Jesus talks about this in Luke 6:
The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. -Luke 6:45 ESV
Those are some pretty real and straightforward words from Jesus. I think the enemy wants us to focus on those moments where we fall short, the enemy wants us to forget about the opposite picture of what Jesus says. What if everytime we were “bumped” the spill of our hearts were things of God? Jesus tells us that we can store up good things in our hearts, and that out of the abundance of those good things stored up inside of us, we can speak life!
I want to know what it is to live life that abundant! What if I stopped thinking about all the bad “bump” moments I’ve had, and sought after what it would look like to overflow God in every situation. That everytime I’m “bumped” by man or God, all that spills out is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I want to know what that looks like.
Lately God has been teaching me and showing me the security that is found when I’m full of Him. That He wants to shape even my subconscious thoughts, that He wants every part of my cup to be full of Him. When all that’s in my cup to spill out is Him, I don’t have to worry about how I’m going to react in different situations. In fact, I find myself walking away from difficult situations with joy and gladness because I was able to bring life into that place.
I’ve noticed a funny difference that often takes place between these “bumps”. When man “bumps” me it’s often something that affects my flesh. Whether I react in flesh or in Spirit depends on what’s inside me at the time, but usually the wound/offence/inconvenience deals with my flesh. These are opportunities to kill our flesh and rely on the Spirit. But when God “bumps” me it’s focused on growing my spirit, taking me to new places with Him. Again, whether I react in flesh or Spirit depends on what’s inside, but usually it’s a prompting to be uncomfortable/grow/step out. I want to focus in on this prompting from God for this blog. He has continually “bumped” me in ways that used to terrify me(praying out loud, sharing my faith, confronting someone in love, praying for the sick, deliverance, prophecy), but I’m learning more and more to be secure in those times.
To be so full of Him that less and less of me spills out.
One of those moments just happened a week ago. We had just finished a three day event where we met up with another squad and worshipped together, had fellowship and teachings together, and poured into each other before we left to our cities for this month. As we left to travel to our city, a taxi driver started to talking to us and told us that he was a pastor. He invited us to his church the next morning, we exchanged numbers and went our separate ways. That evening he texted us and asked if any of us would like to preach. One of our guys agreed that he would speak and the pastor sent us the Scriptures he wanted us to speak on. I sent those Scriptures to my friend, who was speaking, and forgot about it. The next morning we got up and went to this church, a small local gathering inside a spare room in a wearhouse building. We get there a little early, sit down and listen to the worship team practice. The pastor tells us the order of what we will do, worship, prayer, introduce ourselves, and then we will speak. The service began, we sang some songs and it gets to the prayer time. At the start of the prayer time, the pastor announces the verses that we will be focusing in on that day. I thought to myself “Oh, I’ll grab those verses real quick so I can have all of them ready.”
As I look at the three verses provided, God begins to show me some really cool connections between them. As God stirred up my spirit, I turned to my friend who was speaking and shared those connections with him. In that moment God spoke to my friend and I at the same time. 5-10 minutes before we were going to introduce ourselves and speak, God tells us that I’m supposed to give this message.
*God Bump*
A little backstory here. Public speaking was one of my greatest fears growing up. Ironically(or is it?) that’s one of the things that God called me do for the longest time as a youth pastor. Not only that, but when I would speak, I would have my notes typed out word for word. No joke, every single word was typed out, I would put in notes for pauses, write in every joke, I would write in EVERYTHING. Pages of notes for every time I spoke. God used that time to mold me and shape me in the ways that were meant for that time, and I grew SO MUCH during those years. But that was a real struggle for me. Probably my biggest fear at that time would be being called up minutes before a service began and being told I was speaking.
So basically this situation a year and a half later is to the T, one of my biggest fears. Public speaking with no notes.
I sat there and knew that’s what God wanted. Do you know what the funny thing is? When God showed us that I was supposed to speak that morning, I didn’t have an ounce of anxiety or fear. As a matter of fact, I didn’t even remember that I struggled with that previously until later that day! I got up to preach and there was such a security, a confidence, a overflow. It for sure was a “bump” moment, a surprise, unexpected. But when all I had to give was Jesus, fear had no place, anxiety had to ground to stand on, fear of man had no victory.
I want to know what it looks like to only have Christ in my cup. That my every thought and meditation would be on Him, that the things I would seek would be things of the Kingdom, that the Fruit of the Spirit would be the only thing that spills from my cup. That when man “bumps” me I would react as Christ would, and when God lovingly “bumps” me, I would walk confidently in the Spirit.
Have you noticed that when you get “bumped” something besides Christ spills out? Is God challenging you to change whats being poured into your cup? Do you want to change your focus from previous failures to life more abundant? I want to encourage you today to chase whatever God is “bumping” you with right now!
*Announcements, Prayer Requests and Needs*
I do have a big announcement! I have been accepted to Squad Lead for August Expedition 2018! That’s right folks, World Race round 3! We will be launching a crew from Spain to the Middle East. This season has been such a crazy and incredible journey and I just found out it’s not over yet. I can’t explain how thankful I am to be able to go out again and invest, disciple, and learn with this next crew. With this new development, there are some new challenges I’m facing.
One is that I’ll be fundraising again (the donation page will be updated soon and I’ll let you know when that is ready) Those donations can be made on this page and are tax deductible!
Secondly, I have been without income for over a year and a half. Most of our expenses are paid while we are out, but there are times when we have to use our own finances and buy our own flights to travel back and forth from trainings to our homes. This has led to my personal accounts/savings to drained pretty dry. If you feel led to support me in this way, your help is so appreciated! Unfortunately those donations are not tax deductible. If you want to be a part of my team in that way you can message me, or donate here:
https://www.paypal.me/EricMusil
Thirdly, and most importantly I need more prayer warriors! There have been countless times this year where I could feel the community praying for us interceding on our behalf. The Lord has opened doors that could have never been possible without your prayers and also those prayers have protected us in some dangerous situations. If you would add me to your prayer list, I would be forever honored for you to partner with me. Your prayers change things!
Prayer requests right now:
-Provision for this next season
-A present mind and heart while I finish here with G squad
-That I can invest in my family well while I have time at home
-Grace through grieving leaving G squad and this community
-A new love for this next squad
-That my debit card that’s lost in the mail in India shows up
Thank you all so much for your continued support and help to enable me to be used in this way. There are so many days I stand in wonder and say “Why do I get to do this?!”, not that it’s easy, but thankfulness overflows from my heart to be able to experience so much each day and to be able to equip these people to live life abundant. I’m so excited to get ready for this new adventure. I can’t thank you all enough for cheering me on and for investing in my life. You all have a part in all the lives I saw touched last year, and this year, and for the lives that will be changed in the future. Thank you. Now I get to share that joy with you all again! Here’s to round 3!
