and bread for the hungry. 11It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.” (Isaiah 55:8-11 NLT)
Confession time… I had to be reminded of this last Sunday. I went into the service with a rather bad attitude – not expecting much and, quite frankly, not expecting to do much. My intention was to wrap up the sermon from last week, maybe 10 minutes, and move on. I had a negative attitude and I allowed it to dictate to my thoughts and my behavior. I’m sorry. I have repented. Actually, I repented on Sunday as I felt the rebuke of the Holy Spirit as HE took over and did what HE wanted. It was amazing how the Word of God went out Sunday and in spite of my negative attitude and energy, was used to inspire more than a half an hour of confession, discussion, testimony and prayer! I sat on the stool, worrying about how long it was all taking, STILL not understanding or submitting to the power of The God as He manifested Himself among us. Shame on me. Lesson learned. Of course, like the imperfect human being that I am, there is no doubt that I will have to “learn” it again sometime.
Scripture teaches us that in our weakness, we are made strong by the Lord. (Re: 2cor. 12) Sunday I realized the fundamental fact of church – I and/or WE are not in charge, HE is. We are weak and left to our own devices will give into that weakness and purposely stand in the way of the will of God. We sorta can’t help ourselves given our selfish natures; but knowing that, honestly, is half the battle. Submit your weakness to the Lord. Understand that HE is in control and that HIS purposes will be se4rved REGARDLESS of how we feel or what we think or even if we intentionally stand in the way of THE WAY. Sunday, God sat me down, told me to be quiet and showed me what it means, once again, to be submitted. Thank You Lord.