Preaching To The Choir

This past week, I had a greater number of comments than usual after a Sunday morning service.  Some folks talked to me directly about what I had said.  Others avoided eye contact.  I could tell God was working through the Scriptures and the words that were said.  One person said, “Your message today was…timely.”  Clearly, God was at work.

I’m not sure how many of you know this, but many times when I share a message I am “preaching to the choir.”  In other words, I’m sharing a message filled with concepts I already know.  When I do this, however, I find myself challenged as well.  That’s because knowing the concept is not the same as living it.  Maybe my percentage is better than most, but I still do not perfectly implement what I am sharing.  Sometimes, that’s why I preach to the choir.  I am motivating myself to move forward and holding myself accountable to God’s word.  Once I preach it, I would be a hypocrite not to practice it.  Preaching to the choir helps me walk together with God.

This week, as I talked about living out our faith, I examined some of the things that try to stop us: Resistance, Retribution, and even people close to us Retreating.  I’ve experienced plenty of these throughout my life, dating all the way back to childhood.  I’m not sure why I have always been aware of these responses, but I can’t remember I time when I have not been aware of them.  Clearly, God has been teaching me how to be faithful in all circumstances.

While God was teaching me, however, I haven’t been perfect in my walk either.  There are times when I’ve given in to resistance, shrunk back from retribution, and quit when those around me retreat.  In those times, however, I have learned that God is faithful, even when we are not.  Not only that, God is waiting for us to start being faithful again. 

God wants to work in us to help us experience a Garden Walk.  God wants to work through us to empower one more to walk together with Him.  We simply need to be faithful to our part of His plan.  Then, we get to see the power, the wisdom, and the plan of God unfold before our very eyes.  It really is the most amazing experience when God works in and through us to empower one more to walk together with God.