I feel the church is on a powerful course. It almost seemed in our past decade as if the church was like a ship in a storm, taking on water, swaying and tilting – and many jumped ship. There is a sense that the ship has righted itself and we are setting sail for a powerful destination.
This morning, it is very quiet and it seems as if the whole world is asleep, though I know it isn’t. And in the stillness of the morning, I want to share with you a few scriptures
Act 7:58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.
Act 7:59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
Act 7:60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
I talked a bit about Christian martyrs yesterday – and the remnant of that word is still fresh on my plate this morning. Many amazing things in these three verses, like the transformation of the coat check person to becoming a martyr himself. It all started there for him.
But the main thing that I am seeing here this morning is a man who is in the process of going home. His eyes are being opened to the supernatural world around him and I suppose, like a movie special effect, he stops seeing things in black and white and begins to experience Technicolor! In the crisis – Stephen didn’t lash out at anything human. He didn’t run. He didn’t hide from the pain and he didn’t find a tree or an emotion (like anger) to hide behind. HE WAS BEING CALLED INTO A SUPERNATURAL REALM. A realm he was actually and literally walking into.
That is the testing of whether you really believe, or if you are just playing the church game called “traditional religion”. Stephen couldn’t rely on what his parents knew or what he had learned concerning that good old time religion.
In the crisis do you have the power and the faith to call into a supernatural realm or do you try to face the fire with fire… or… the natural disaster with a natural solution?
Hmmm…. Think back to your last crisis. What did you give way to? Running away, denying it was there, hiding until the storm passed over, becoming angry, blamed someone else, became violent, became hurt and turned your back?
We try to counteract our circumstances with fleshly responses… or, at least – at times, I do. Having the enemy come out of nowhere and attack you so violently and so harshly and so unexpectedly; it is like walking out of your home and getting hit smack dab in the face with a snowball that is more composed of ice than snow. Those of you in California, you’ll have to just take my word for how horrible this is.
It’s happened to me. I got angry. I used colorful language. I looked around for something that would inflict great bodily harm on the one who threw the snowball. I worried that my glasses would be broken. I shouted threats. I pouted and went back into the house and decided that I would never come out of my front door until the snow melted, and while in hiding I would be devising a brilliant plan of sweet revenge.
I must look like a man upset with the wind caused by the turbine of a jet airplane and standing directly in front of it begins screaming at the top of my lungs as my face becomes red, my voice is lost in the roar and my body is being moved backward very quickly by the force of the turbine’s wind. And… think about how foolish that looks. But more so – think how dangerous it is.
We have several of these responses in our repertoire that have defined us in crisis. Are you a screamer? A pouter? A quitter? A boxer? A judge? An executioner? A “silent treatment” kind of person? Let me ask you. How’s that workin’ for you?
I can tell you how it’s been. It has been futile in your past, it is futile in your present, and it will remain futile for your future. Stephen, the first martyr of the Church of Jesus Christ, taught all of us something about the crunch. The moment of pain. The hopelessness of situation.
He did something that wasn’t taught by the natural order of things in this world. He didn’t fight back. He didn’t try HAVE the last natural word. He didn’t seek revenge. He didn’t try to CONTROL the situation. He DIDN’T HAVE TO HAVE HIS OWN WAY. (As children we tend to want to dictate rules and if everyone doesn’t abide by the rules we have, the climate we set, the colors we want – we take our ball and go home or we deflate someone else’s ball and go home.)
Stephen didn’t go out being blown away by the turbine engine of circumstance, looking like a fool. He went out on his knees. He went out trusting God. He went out with a heart of love. He went out not pleading for his life, but pleading the blood.
He called into a supernatural realm. He knelt down and found the supernatural portal to Heaven and He CHOSE to have compassion on the ones who were hurting him. And when he did those things, he entered into a rest that this world can’t wrap it’s head around. Your own turmoil, many times will come from the way you try to conquer the storm.
In crisis. In circumstance. In beatings that can be quite emotional, spiritual and physical. In the crunch of surprise and pain – WE MUST learn to call into a supernatural realm. We must find Heaven’s door… and it’s not too hard to find… because there is someone on the other side of it…. KNOCKING.
It is there in that realm, and only there, where we can make a difference in the lives of others… especially the ones who hurt us. Sometimes we’re too busy trying to teach them a lesson instead of being taught by Him… and realizing that only HE can change their hearts. It’s like… “God, get out of the way and let me handle this”. (Can you hear the angelic laughter over the noise of the turbines???)
And… haven’t we all been there… the silent treatment to teach someone a lesson or to make someone aware of our anger toward a situation. Using human emotion to try to gain an advantage on the playing field… ah, but that’s a message for another day.
Worship with me today:
Streetfire Ministries 