Stop Patching. Do Something New.
For a long time now I have been desiring something more, something deeper in my spiritual life. To borrow Pete Scazzero's illustration, my skyscraper kept getting higher without an adequate foundation. Skyscraper foundations are built several stories down into the earth to support their incredible height. Leaders, and all of us for that matter, need depth to support the work God has given us to accomplish.
Edmund Chan says, "take care of the depth, let God take care of the breadth." Since hearing this statement back in June, I knew this was God's word for me: go deeper, stop worrying about where leadership may or may not take you.
But...how to go deeper? A seasoned Christian, two Bible degrees, countless books under my belt, and still I felt unsure of some mysterious way to 'go deeper' with Christ. New disciplines? methods? some new book to read? a spiritual director? more Bible memory? ...what?
A pastor (whose name I didn't catch) gave a devotional this past Thursday at a leaders' prayer gathering in Manhattan. He brought us to Luke 5, and reminded us of Jesus' parable of the patches and wine skins.
He said many worthy things, but the phrase most lodged in my soul from that morning was this: STOP PATCHING. DO SOMETHING NEW.
I had been patching old garments in my spiritual life, assuming old habits would take me where I wanted to go. My sleepy prayer life, my predictable devotional routine: these old garments were frayed and tattered, leaving me lacking power and focus.
DO SOMETHING NEW. I am learning to listen to the Still, Small Voice that prompts me to....
get on my face before God, on the floor...
allow Him to uncover the vast depths of unbelief, washing over me in waves...
pour out my anxieties before Him, tapping into the angst which I rarely acknowledge...
practice lectio divina in all Scripture reading, what do You have for me today Spirit?
wait in His Presence when I don't know what to do...or when His answer will come
Jesus would not have told the parable about new wine skins if He never meant to give us new wine. I am expectant.
Edmund Chan says, "take care of the depth, let God take care of the breadth." Since hearing this statement back in June, I knew this was God's word for me: go deeper, stop worrying about where leadership may or may not take you.
But...how to go deeper? A seasoned Christian, two Bible degrees, countless books under my belt, and still I felt unsure of some mysterious way to 'go deeper' with Christ. New disciplines? methods? some new book to read? a spiritual director? more Bible memory? ...what?
A pastor (whose name I didn't catch) gave a devotional this past Thursday at a leaders' prayer gathering in Manhattan. He brought us to Luke 5, and reminded us of Jesus' parable of the patches and wine skins.
He said many worthy things, but the phrase most lodged in my soul from that morning was this: STOP PATCHING. DO SOMETHING NEW.
I had been patching old garments in my spiritual life, assuming old habits would take me where I wanted to go. My sleepy prayer life, my predictable devotional routine: these old garments were frayed and tattered, leaving me lacking power and focus.
DO SOMETHING NEW. I am learning to listen to the Still, Small Voice that prompts me to....
get on my face before God, on the floor...
allow Him to uncover the vast depths of unbelief, washing over me in waves...
pour out my anxieties before Him, tapping into the angst which I rarely acknowledge...
practice lectio divina in all Scripture reading, what do You have for me today Spirit?
wait in His Presence when I don't know what to do...or when His answer will come
Jesus would not have told the parable about new wine skins if He never meant to give us new wine. I am expectant.
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