 |
| Photo courtesy of Salvatore Vuono/ freedigitalphotos.net |
When was the last time you
heard a message and thought the speaker was directing it specifically to you?
It’s like you’re the only person in the auditorium, an audience of one.
I had that sensation last
week at church when a visiting pastor from the UK, Paul Scanlon, spoke.
His message didn’t really have a title but it was about encouraging us all to
know that we are useful to God.
When God wants to do
something He always finds someone who He can use. Whether it was to wipe out
all living creatures (he used Noah), to building the temple (Solomon), or to evangelize
to the Gentiles (Paul).
David and the Temple
Scanlon anchored his message
around David. David was chosen to be king when he was a teenage shepherd boy
who wrestled lions and bears if they dared go after his sheep and wrote poetry
to God as he tended the flock through the lonely nights.
“If we compare ourselves to
David, we’re probably over qualified.”
When David was king he had a
passion to build a temple as he was affronted by the fact he was housed in a
palace but the ark of God dwelled inside tent curtains. (2 Samuel 7:2). So Nathan
encouraged David to build it:
“Go, do all that is in your
heart, for the Lord is with you.” (2 Samuel 7:3)
God didn’t give David the
idea, He didn’t need a temple, but He honoured David’s idea. As most of us know, David didn’t build the temple, his son, Solomon did.
I often find myself having an
idea and rather than starting the process of engaging others or moving on it, I
wait for some validation from God. Somehow confirmation will miraculously
appear.
Sure the world is full of
hair-brained ideas that have failed. And we don’t need more of them. So we
shouldn’t be shooting off to do everything that comes to mind.
When I received a
co-publishing offer for Angelguard I sought counsel from others in
the industry. I could have gone yippee (I did do that) and signed the deal
believing that was the path the Lord wanted for Angelguard.
But it was that counsel that had me turn down the offer and more significantly opened a door to
another publisher who offered me a traditional contract.
Active Waiting
I’ve always been more of a
thinker than a doer. These past few weeks I’ve been thinking a lot as I’ve
waited. Whether it’s for new work, more sales of Angelguard, or the right words
for the second novel.
God has chosen all of us to
be a move of God. Sure some people will have BIG roles to play like leading
mega churches, or massive revivals, or whatever. But we’ve all been chosen. We
all have a responsibility to further the kingdom. It’s not just those
revivalists or our pastor’s job. It’s for all of us.
That might just be by asking
our neighbour to come to church with us rather than simply praying about it, or
choosing to take the self-published route for your novel because it’s a genre
not too popular in the CBA market at present (as a friend has recently done),
or writing an email to a prominent author that I’m encouraging another friend
to do.
“God isn’t fussy: He uses
someone who is useable.”
So enough passive waiting for
me. Time to start doing, and sharing with others the one or two of the ideas
that have been percolating for a while.
Thanks Lord for the kick up
the backside.
How do you actively wait when
you have the seed of an idea? And especially one that you believe will bring
God glory?
Ian Acheson is
an author and strategy consultant based in Northern Sydney. Ian's first
novel, Angelguard, was released recently in US, UK, Canada and Australia. You can
find more about Angelguard at Ian's website, on his author Facebook page and Twitter
