Long for God more than His works

Have you ever read something and thought, "I wish I'd said that." What is really frustrating for me is that...it's usually something pretty basic and simple. But for some reason, at that moment it seems to carry more significance...to be more profound. A while back I was reading Gordon MacDonald's book Gripped by the Greatness of God. He tells of the time in the 1980s when they began Harvest Bible Chapel in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Over the next 13 years the church grew tremendously. Their facilities became inadequate and they needed to relocate. For 2 years they searched for land and finally found a piece of property. He writes:

The property was owned by the Catholic Church, and they don't sell much-especially not to an evangelical church. Nevertheless, our church's history is one of multiplied miraculous answers to prayer, and so we set about to test the promises of God.

I filled my heart with faith based on Mark 11:24, "All things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them and they will be granted you," and I repeatedly went out on the property to walk and pray. Our elders gathered on the vacant land holding hands in a circle, calling out to God by faith and asking Him to give us this land.

Behind the scenes it really appeared as if He would. Doors that were previously slammed shut began to open. Key people within the ranks of the Catholic hierarchy began to soften to the idea of selling us the land, even to the point of contacting us and inviting an offer. I continued to pray as the private negotiations accelerated, telling our church on several occasions that a miracle was imminent that would "blow their minds." So focused I became on "claiming this mountain" that I hardly thought of anything else.

I begged God to do this work and put myself in a very dangerous position spiritually. Psalm 106:15 says God "gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul" (NKJV).

God doesn't want us to long for His works more than we long for Him. God is not a heavenly genie waiting reluctantly till we rub the lamp the right way. We must be very careful of begging God to do some specific work in a way that quenches our thirst for Him and His greatness alone.
(pp. 138-139)

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This is where I have been lately. He has been reminding me to desire Him more than His provisions. It is kind of like being a boy with a rich dad (well it is actually a lot like that). The danger can be for that boy to miss the relationship with his dad for all that that dad can provide.

Father, I love you. I want to know you more today.

What a day!

OK...so i am not real regular at writing on my blog. But yesterday was...well...wow! I was so pumped to give a word that I felt i had been given to give to the Journey. BUT nearly from the start, we faced one issue after another as we prepared for service. For those that don't know, we are in a temporary location and so we set up each Sunday...staging...sound...lights...chairs, everything.

From the beginning of the set up to the time we tried to begin worship, there was one technical thing after another giving us problems. By the time we began worship, i was a wreck...i was spinning mentally, physically, and spiritually. I was upset because of circumstances not being just right. But God was preparing to do something in spite of all of that.

The message was His despite the way the enemy would fight it. God's word is powerful and so it is obvious the enemy would love nothing more than to distract. But God was large. In our weakness He is so strong.

So the truth about all this is God does not need lights and sound to be just right...for Pete's sake, He doesn't need me, either...i am grateful He chooses to use me, though. What a rush to be His.

Charles West said, "We turn to God when our foundations are shaking - only to learn that it's God Who was shaking them."

MORE IMPORTANTLY, here is what God's word says...Psalms 139:7-10 (NIV)
7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

God will work WHERE He wants WHEN He wants IN THE WAY He wants. I will rest in that today.