Stir up your zeal
This week we crossed the 1 year milestone in conducting Refresh outreaches. I reflected on the past year and prayed to God about directions for this year.
Interestingly God showed me areas where I have become complacent and settled with the blessings he has given me in the past year. God also showed me areas in life where I am very busy and distracted taking my eyes off the original calling God gave me.
God’s calling to us is very simple and straightforward: PREACH THE GOSPEL. Paul understood the importance of this calling and said, “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!”. In another instance Paul wrote, ” I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.” Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me more than this… FEED MY LAMBS”.
God taught me that sometimes we either forget or complicate this calling and we struggle with so many other priorities in life. We either become complacent and comfortable where we are or we become very busy in life. Both situations are very dangerous as it completely distracts us from God’s calling.
Before we started Refresh I approached many people sharing the idea about doing such outreaches and asking their help. Some said to me “it is impossible to do such outreaches”, “Your plans won’t last long” “It is not practical” and discouraged in many ways. Only a handful of faithful people understood that if God wants to do it He will do it and we just need to be available for his plans. So we started last year without knowing how this will pan out but simply obeying God. See how much God has done this past year with handful of committed people! This outreach helped many people in different walks of life and God touched many lives in the past year. God touched people with issues in relationships, marriage, struggling with depression and anxiety disorder, health issues and people with many other needs. On one occasion a couple who lost their son attended Refresh after looking at the facebook ad. The sermon preached that evening was about “hurts and pain in relationships” and there was even a mention about “a mother losing her son” during the sermon without none of us knowing anything about this couple’s background. This couple stood in tears at the end of the meeting and thanked us for the way God spoke to them. This couple never returned after that but isn’t it beautiful how God used us to heal someone living with so much hurts and pain in their lives? Do you know how many such couples and families are hurting in Falkirk? God is looking for committed people to PREACH THE GOSPEL so that He can bring the wounded and broken to us to get healed and transformed.
Jehu in the bible said, “Come with me and see my zeal for the LORD.” God spoke to me, “It is time to stir up your zeal for me. I place before you an opportunity that many churches and ministries are longing for. An opportunity to impact a town, an opportunity to heal broken families, to heal broken relationships and to transform lives!”
But many times we don’t see this opportunity until it is gone. Mordecai said to Esther “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”” To paraphrase, Mordecai said “you better use this opportunity now or it will be taken away from you.” If we don’t seize this opportunity and rise up, God may pass this to some other people.
In the bible, a man called Terah who was Abraham’s father set out to Cannan even before Abraham. But he never reached Cannan because the bible says “But when they got as far as Haran, they settled down there.” Terah later died in Haran. The actual meaning of Haran in hebrews is “Bone-dry place”. God reminded me that I should not get settled in a “bone dry” place with all my issues and problems around me.
So I recommitted my life to God with a simple goal to preach the gospel with a renewed zeal this year. I decided not to get settled in a bone dry place. I don’t want to live a meaningless and purposeless life chasing after a wind. I don’t want to get busy with various other things and get distracted forgetting the calling God has given me. Yes I do have other things in life to deal with but did he not promise “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you”?
There is no other qualification needed to fulfil His calling as Jesus never asked Peter whether he can play guitar or sing or preach. All he asked was “Do you love me more than this?” What if the Lord is asking the same question to all of us? That voice from the shores of Galilee still echoes to all of us in Falkirk – “Feed my lambs”. Do you see an opportunity before you to impact your town. Are you available to feed His lambs? Time to think about this, pray and make a decision.
