It's a natural occurrence. We set our clocks by it. Our circadian rhythm depends on it. Our very existence would be null and void without it. Our planet spins on its axis and revolves around the sun, bringing light and nourishment to everything that it touches but what would happen if that process came to a sudden halt? What would happen if the sun stood still? During one Old Testament battle it did just that and it was all because one man was bold enough to make that request. In 'Sun Stand Still' Steven Furtick describes how Joshua's bold faith changed the course of a battle and, consequently, history. He describes how we, as followers of Christ, have that same power and authority. We have the ability to ask the sun to stand still. We have the ability to bring situations in our lives that seem impossible to the Lord and let him overcome them. An intimate relationship that has been broken and just won't mend. A tight budget where expenses always seem to outweigh the income. These are situations where we need the sun to stand still. These are situations where we need to, as Furtick says, activate our audacious faith. Audacious faith seeks out God's grand vision for our lives, believes in God to make it happen and spurs us on to "be the answer to our own prayer". Audacious faith "is not passive…you do the natural and trust God for the super." We don't go wildly into the unknown but that we carefully consider what we're asking God to do. We consider his plans and desires and seek to make them our own and once our hearts are lined up with his we don't sit idly by and wait for the results to magically appear. We hear and then do. The hard part is that even when we're praying, hearing, and doing sometimes "the sun still sets. "Audacious faith doesn't mean that my prayers work every time, it means that God is working even when my prayers don't seem to be working at all. Sometimes God lets the sun go down so that he can be our only light" because he knows that "crisis is your greatest opportunity to see God's glory and goodness revealed and have the high honor of revealing him to others."
I'm sure I've said this before but I'll just go ahead and say it again, I've put God in a box for a long time. The more things I experience on the World Race the more I am realizing this. As I have read this book and revisited this incredible story of faith, I have come to a place where I want Joshua's kind of faith in my own life. I've come to realization that people who do great things in their lives for the cause of Christ have Joshua's kind of faith, faith that is as small as a mustard yet big enough to change the world as they know it. That is the kind of faith that I want. Faith that believes that I am fully funded. Faith that believes the broken relationships in my life (that are, honestly, mostly my fault) will be restored. Faith that sees my community center built and reaching inner city families. These are things in my life that I believe to be impossible. These are my Sun Stand Still prayers, what are yours?
