When I Grow Up
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him! -Psalms 34:8
For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” - Mark 5:28
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. - 2 Corinthians 3:17
One of the most valuable aspects of the Fellows program for me recently has been our Faith at Work speakers. These are just incredible everyday people that live in our community (Howie Burkhalter, Alan Hawkins, Laura Stanley— just to name a few recents) and come speak to us about what their walk with our Lord has looked like, how God has worked in their life, and how God continues to show Himself in their current vocation. It has been a real blessing to hear these folks share about the Lord's goodness in their life. Most of them are even brave enough to allow us to ask follow up questions.
Through these kind folks coming and sharing their stories I have noticed two common themes: God shows up for people in a personal way and He keeps showing up. I love hearing about how these individuals come to know the Lord, it's some great stuff. But what I really enjoyed is hearing about how their walk with the Lord has changed over 20, 30, or 40 plus years of knowing Him. God keeps showing up and He keeps doing stuff. It is really cool to see how the Lord continues to work in people's lives through all of the ups and the downs of humanhood and to hear about the continual learning and growth through these years. It seems like God is really interested in this long slow process of drawing people to Himself and making His people more like their Creator(and somehow He is super personable in His approach). These testimonies have shown me that we don’t retire out of our need for Christ. It is a daily dependence no matter how long we have known Him, and He continues to teach, lead, and work. I think Howie (who has retired) captures this perspective a little bit when he said to the fellows, “I’m just the guy who doesn’t know what he wants to be when he grows up.”
I am very encouraged by the Lord's faithfulness in the lives of our Faith at Work speakers. I am more and more convinced of the depth of work that the Lord is capable of. There seems to be no greater pursuit in life than the heart of the Father. He is life, just taste and see or if you can just touch His clothes. “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” - 2 Corinthians 3:17
I continuously come back to this prayer that was used during our Ash Wednesday service because I think it reflects these thoughts exactly:
O Lord our God, grant us the grace to desire you with our whole heart: that desiring you, we may seek you; And that seeking you, we may find you; And that finding you, we may love you; And that loving you, we may hate those sins from which you have delivered us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
-Eric Mays