“Ready or not, here I come!” So begins another expedition of Hide-and-Seek. We adults may not play that game much anymore – unless we need some time to ourselves and we volunteer to count if the kids go hide real well and not come out until we find them. Then we count, they hide, and we sit down in a comfortable chair and declare: “Ready or not, here I come!” Maybe the kiddos will stay hidden for a few minutes, and we can catch a nap. (I won’t tell if you won’t).
From childhood, I believe we are conditioned to expect something wonderful by the phrase: “Ready or not, here I come!” perhaps a parent called out “Ready or not, here I come!” just before the swooped us up and tickled us. Or we heard it from our best hiding place and hunkered down with anticipation. “Ready or not, here I come!” The game is afoot. We hushed and tried to breathe as noiselessly as possible. Our little hearts raced and our minds began to churn: “Will they find me?” Then, like nervous birds in the field, we usually took flight and abandoned our secure secret place to race for home base.
I thought about that call this week as we finished the final unit of our study in Experiencing God. I wondered and prayed:
Dear God, if these seven realities are true – and I believe they are – then what we are learning here is revolutionary. You are on the move right now. Do we notice? Do we care to notice? Whether or not we pay attention to You and Your activity, You continue to fulfill Your prevailing purposes and to pursue Your excellent intentions. Whether we are ready or not, You come and You go! O God, make us ready to respond to You!
Lord, You call out: “Ready or not, here I come!” But why are we playing Hide-and-Seek with You? This is one time when we must quickly come out of hiding and run into the light where You are (1 John 1:7). We hear the Holy Spirit cry: “Ready or not, here I come!” We need to understand this is Your invitation for us to seek You, to come to You, to join You, to obey You, and to find in You all that truly satisfies our thirsts for joy and adventure and home and rest and wholeness and healing and hope.
Beloved, my question for you today is this: “Are you ready or not?” My burden for this church is the same: “Are we ready or not?” Truly, “the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to show Himself strong for those whose hearts are completely His” (2 Chronicles 16:9). Does His gaze on us find us “ready or not?”
Are we “ready or not” to … Well, for those of you who stayed the course and stayed with the Experiencing God study and process, are you “ready or not” to give yourself wholeheartedly to whatever God has shown you. Are you “ready or not” to do what you have seen Him doing and heard Him saying? Are you “ready or not” to press through opposition and “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7) convinced that “without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebrews 11:6)?
In the Experiencing God group that meets in our home, one of our members recently shared a personal dilemma. I secured this person’s permission to tell you what they said. (Before you read further, you need to know two things. First, this person is a long-time, faithful member of this church, and they love this church very much. Second, what they said is applicable not only to our church but to the vast majority of churches in
A number of us started this study of Experiencing God once before, but we did not finish the course. This time, I am honestly experiencing God do a fresh, new work in my heart. I love it! But I read in the Bible and in our workbook about how God is at work, how He uses churches smaller than ours to touch the world, and I am embarrassed to tell you that I don’t think God can do that here.
In our church, we just have a history of seeking and following God up to a point. We trust God until it gets to the crisis of belief. Then we sort of lose heart. I am sorry, but I just don’t feel our church can join God in what He is doing like this study teaches.
As I listened, I observed many in our group nodding in agreement. Most of our group are also faithful, long-time followers of Christ here and love this church. I also sensed the Spirit’s confirmation of what they shared. When they finished, God directed me to respond this way:
You are exactly right. “our church” cannot do these things. But what we must remember is that Jesus specifically promises to build and bless His church. We cannot do God’s work, but we must let Him do His work through us.
We must be vigilant and diligent to remain God-centered and not fall into man-centered thinking. Speaking to His disciples indirectly but clearly about His mission and our activity with Him, Jesus says, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). Are we “ready or not” to believe this, to live as is this is true?
Abraham was old, and so was his wife. But he believed God when He told him: “Is anything impossible for the Lord? At the appointed time I will come back to you, and in about a year she will have a son” (Genesis :1814). A year later, guess who had a baby on their knee. Job declared: “I know that You can do anything and no plan of Yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2). And the prophet asserts: “Ah, Lord God ! You Yourself made the heavens and earth [out of nothing, I would remind you] by Your great power and with Your outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You!” (Jeremiah 32: 17).
Beloved, His people, His church, are ready – ready for anything. Are we “ready or not?” Ready or not, here He comes!
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