Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord! – Psalm 27:14
I can’t tell you the number of times as a pastor, that in my zeal to do something for God and my church, I jumped out way ahead of Him. By His mercy, I will say that not all ended up as disasters but there have been enough failings to learn a lesson or two … or three!
I also found that a church can’t go very far without the power and direction of the Holy Spirit in advance. So many have tried and that’s why when they open their doors on Sundays that they find there’s no more people there than the week before, plus there’s a baptismal heater that never gets fired up anymore (Matthew 28:19-20).
One blogger wisely put it this way, “Christianity without the Holy Spirit is like a marriage without good conversation. Without a present, continual connection with the Holy Spirit, we’ll never have the foundation we need to build the close relationship we were created for.”*
I love this illustration from God’s Little Devotional Book that makes that point:
A young ensign had nearly completed his first overseas tour of sea duty when he was given an opportunity to display his ability at getting the ship under way. With a stream of crisp commands, he had the decks buzzing with men and soon, the ship had left port and was steaming out of the channel.
The ensign’s efficiency had been remarkable. In fact, the deck was abuzz with talk that he had set a new record for getting a destroyer under way. The ensign glowed at his accomplishment and was not all that surprised when another seaman approached him with a message from the captain. He was, however, a bit surprised to find that it was a radio message, and he was even more surprised when he read, “My personal congratulations upon completing your underway preparation exercise according to the book and with amazing speed. In your haste, however, you have overlooked one of the unwritten rules, make sure the captain is aboard before getting under way!”
So dear friends, when you and/or your church sets out to do God’s work, you better make sure the Captain is on board before you leave the dock (John 15:26-27). Maranatha!
* Craig Denison, First 15
