Outside the Velvet Cage

"Go.." Matthew 28:18+

God calls ordinary people like you and me to heroic accomplishment for His Kingdom. The astonishing fact is that He will work this through weakness. To say, "I can't but I will try and see what God does" is to open the floodgates of God's power into this world. But, too often, I stop at the "I can't" and implicitly believe Satan's lie that God is either non-existent or un-interested. Tiny steps of faith are the keys to God's storehouse of power. The programming of our lives to fit the cultural norm is one way that we limit God's power. It is a little scary to be different. The programming of church services is one manifestation of this fear of risk. Many church services could keep on going week after week even after the Holy Spirit has stopped showing up. Most of us have been careful to eliminate the spots in our lives and churches where we might actually have to be dependent on God's power. In the book of John, Jesus said that we must abide in Him or we would accomplish absolutely nothing. The sad thing is that we can satisfy ourselves with the apparent security of busy-ness while achieving nothing, nada and zip. So, we have lives and churches that are like mice running in tiny circles within the security of a cage. The cat won't get us but we will die of hyperactivity and old age without ever getting anywhere. Lord, help me and all those reading this to hear your voice and to take the first tiny step of faith. Let's each ask God for some tiny amount of guts and faith in Him to say, "I can't but I will trust and try" and take some steps outside of the comfortable, velvet cage.