I believe that we are a pipeline, spiritually. God commands us to give of our time, our effort, our energy, ourselves. People always wonder how we can just keep giving. We feel empty, depleted, as if there is nothing left to give. We are tired.
I’ll tell you how. Through God. When we give and do what God commands us to do, then God will replenish. He will not let us go empty. He will not let our storehouses of energy deplete. When we think we have only one more ounce of effort to give, if we give it as God commands, then He is faithful to replace that ounce with a pound. Don’t get me wrong, I get tired, frustrated and annoyed and stomp my foot about this sometimes. But in my heart of hearts, I know He is faithful to supply me with what He wants me to continue to give.
Lately, I’ve felt hungry, spiritually. I’ve felt empty. Yes, I’ve been praying and reading, studying on my own. But I will compare that to nibbling, eating peanut butter sandwiches. Nutritionally sound, yes, but I was craving something spicy, something surprising, meaty. I waffle between believing Sunday morning church is for the lost or for feeding / discipling believers. I’m not sure, maybe something in the middle. But either way, no matter the target audience, it should be relevant and challenging. So for a while, the key phrase has been that the place to get fed is in Life Group.
Now, I am a part of an amazing Life Group. We pray and study together, challenge each other, learn from each other. For a while, we’ve talked about studying Revelation. I struggled with not feeling qualified to teach it, feeling horrendously undereducated. Yet, I felt that God was telling me that it wasn’t about me and what I would teach, but what He can teach through me. If I can just get out of my own way, He will teach what He wants us to learn. Sure, He expects me to be faithful and earnest in studying, searching out His truths, but He will reward that. The energy it takes to study and teach though, is huge. I want it to be accurate, to be honest and relevant and exploratory, and that takes time and energy. But I knew, I knew God would be faithful to replace it.
He has. I’ve recently branched out and started listening to sermons online, reading pastors’ blogs and just exploring things in that way. (Thank God for technology.) And now, I have a couple of new favorites. Perry Noble from NewSpring is my blogging favorite right now. I love how he can be personal but also challenging with some serious spiritual truth. Steven Furtick from Elevation is my new preaching favorite. I listen in my headphones while I am working between phone calls. He is so relevant and right on and fearless in crying out what God has laid on his heart with passion.
So I encourage you to branch out. Find ways to be fed, to learn, to be challenged and to grow in Christ. Don’t restrict yourself to peanut butter sandwiches. Try out some filet, some enchiladas, some fried chicken. Just branch out, get into all the resources God is making available to us. If you have some good ones, please share! I’m open to having more branches.
