Have you ever struggled to know how to respond to something God was doing in your life? It works like this: you are surprised that He shows up in a way that breaks your paradigms about how He shows up, how He works, where He works, through whom He works. And, simply put, you just don't know what to do with what your experiencing. Is it right?
Perhaps our insistence on doing things the way we have always done them keeps us from His works......His ways.
We can learn allot from those who have gone before us. Check out Acts 15:4-12. We get a glimpse of how the early church struggled to get their minds around how God was working. Non-Jews, called Gentiles were coming to Jesus, and some of the believers were convinced that they needed to become Jews first before they could become followers of Jesus. Acts 15 is the battle ground where this intense conversation took place. It's really an amazing account. Put yourself there. Feel the emotion that must have been stirred up in the room.
After all of the wrangling, and debating, and struggling, there is one final statement that I think becomes the turning point for the whole conversation:
"Everyone listened quietly as Barnabas and Paul told about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles." vs. 12
Two questions emerge for me as I think about this event in the life of the Church:
1) Our my eyes open to see God working in places I wouldn't ordinarily look, in people I wouldn't normally pay attention to?
2) Do I trust that God Himself will guide change in the Church......in my life?
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