Some years ago I was going to a revival with a friend who was a PK (preacher's kid). He shared with me this following story.
When he was a child his father had preached one of those impassioned messages that stirs the heart and moves the soul. When the message was over this pastor went into the invitation for people to respond. Well, he was so convinced at the power of the Spirit in his message that the invitation just went on and on with no end in sight. After all, in any given congregation there will be people who need to respond to God in some way. The only problem was that no one seemed to be stepping out of their pews. After about the second or third time through I Surrender All suddenly there was movement. Out of the pew steps this pastor's young son. You can imagine the scene. A collective set of "aws" from the congregation. And, as he moves to the altar a tear can be seen coming from the eye of the pastor - his son was responding to God's call. Our young friend gets to the altar and, as his father leans down to embrace him, he whispers to his father: "Dad, Mom wanted me to tell you that the roast is burning."
Do you ever catch yourself trying to tell God what He should do and when He should do it? Sometimes those of us who are preachers will be so impressed with what we have to say we will assume that God is going to move people to respond. Often times Christians will assume that since they love God and are seeking to walk with Him on a daily basis, surely He will do all that we ask and more. But the reality is that it is important for us to allow God to do His work in us...and for Him to do so in His timing. We must learn to trust Him and His Spirit. To be sensitive to His movement, and not our desires. I know as an evangelist I want people to "get saved" or experience "renewal" every time I stand in God's pulpit. What I have had to learn, as do we all, is that what we really must wait for is God's working in us as we live our lives of faith. In Galatians 5:5 we are reminded:
"As for us, our hope is that God will put us right with him; and this is what we wait for by the power of God’s Spirit working through our faith." (TEV)
Tell me, are you trusting the Spirit of God by simply serving the Lord in faith? Or, if God does not do things the way you want, do you just keep pushing until He does or you just finally have to give up? Are you being sensitive to the Spirit of God, or are you simply letting the roast burn? May God always find me and my ministry faithful to His leading and not my personal desires.
