Have you ever caught onto something that was beyond yourself?
A lesson that I seem to be learning a lot lately is how to live in the overflow. Overflow of the Spirit and in overflow of joy. Sometimes not my own overflow, but that of those around me. It seems to me that we are called into seasons of overflow; of filling one another up and giving hope to the hopeless. Sometimes all it takes is casting a smile out over a frown or not being afraid to step into a situation and say, “I don’t care what people think, I am a worshiper of the King of Kings!”
We were hanging out with Mike’s contact from Thailand the other day and he made this comment that kind of stuck in my head. He said, “All we do is live our lives and God throws people in the way.” What if the ministry isn’t the job, but the ministry is all in how we are living?
A week ago we were out in Chang Mai at a Sunday walking market (the entire street was closed off and you walked past all these merchandise tables or goods spread out across the ground shoulder to shoulder or running into people, see below). The place was madness! Some of our girls were doing red light ministry, hanging out with prostitutes and the guys who go to purchase them for the night. We decided to stop about halfway down the street and pray out over the ministry that was taking place. What happened next was crazy! Five guys circled in prayer over Thailand, enslavement, red light districts and for an outpouring of the Spirit. All noise, commotion and business washed away in that moment. I even noticed while we stood there circled up, I never once got bumped by the ongoing walking traffic. Afterwards, we all stood there laughing for a moment talking about how the noise was silenced and the only thing we could hear were the prayers being lifted up. hah so cool! That lead into some Whoa Whoas and some worship songs, only to look up and find that we were praying right in front of a buddhist temple. God works in crazy ways and it takes stepping out of the box and comfort zone to realize exactly how He moves.
Or imagine breaking out into worship in the middle of a McDonalds to receive a bunch of funny looks. We have checked this one off a couple times along with TukTuk worship and walking down the road worship. This is what my life has been boiling down to it and I couldn’t love it more. I guarantee you the ripples of overflow take place when you least expect it or when you think you are the most uncomfortable, but it takes moving.
Take Joel 2:24, “The threshing floors will be filled with grain; the vats will overflow with new wine and oil.” I know what you’re thinking, “What the heck is a threshing floor?” I had the same question, so I used the Google. A threshing floor is a specially flattened surface, usually circular and paved, where a farmer would sift through the grain harvest and then remove the good stuff. The threshing floor was either
owned by the entire village or by a single family. It was usually
located outside the village in a place exposed to the wind.
owned by the entire village or by a single family. It was usually
located outside the village in a place exposed to the wind.
This excites the heck out of me!
Here is why:
1) Simple, the threshing floor is filled! Say what? It’s full!
2) You have to do something aka move or work to get to the good stuff!
3) It’s not just yours, other people can pull from it and you can pull from other people’s.
4) This is my favorite one, it has to be exposed to the wind. Can you say, “The Spirit is moving”.
Get this; have you ever started laughing because somebody else is laughing? Next you’re uncontrollably laughing for no apparent reason. This is how this works. You can get slap happy drunk off the Holy Spirit and it sends you into a heavenly, fireball whirlwind. Sometimes you get to be the overflow and sometimes all you have to do is start laughing, because someone is getting hit hard with the joy of the Spirit. “The vats are overflowing”, are you going to fill your cup?
I challenge you to do something crazy. Worship in a place you think you would never ever imagine worshiping and find yourself buzzing on the Spirit! It’s the best feeling you can possibly receive and the threshing floor is full, people will pull from it when you start moving.
I’m blessed to do life with Kayla (always reaching out and full of life and smiles), Banko (dude is always spirit drunk), Mike (ushering in 24/7 worship) and Stacey (dropping wisdom and always seeking and dreaming) these days. Everyday, something else comes from their threshing floors and everyday we spontaneously break out into worship. Please pray for an increase in this. The cup is overflowing and we want it to continue and watch it overflow even more!
