This Haiti earthquake is a horrific nightmare, but God will use it to bring his kingdom. How is it that a woman
buried for days comes out of the rubble singing and praising God? How is it that
revival is breaking out in a land racked by such pain?
It has to do with the way Jesus redeems pain. If you let him, he’ll use it in your life as you respond with compassion to Haiti.
Maybe your life is working for you and helping with a national disaster isn’t on your radar. But if you do, don’t be surprised if it’s not a disorienting experience. Don’t be surprised if it doesn’t mess with your value system and priorities. And if it does, it could be a good thing. It could be that Jesus is in the process of growing you up as he did his 12 disciples.
Over time, I’ve seen that he doesn’t just want to save me from my sin, he wants to dance with me. He wants to move in tandem with you and I through life. But to get us there, he has to break us of the bad habits we’ve accumulated.
We are born sleepwalking through life, mistaking our human experience for spiritual reality. We need help seeing things as they really are. Discipleship is awakening someone to their identity and role in the kingdom of God.
Knowing this, Jesus continually threw his disciples into the deep end so that they might learn to swim. He took them through what looks to me like three phases that resulted in their spiritual growth – waking them up to kingdom reality.
1. Destabilize
Jesus sent his disciples out two by two to practice all he had been showing them. His words to them weren’t exactly reassuring. “Don’t take anything on the trip. People will mistreat you.” And then he sent them out. Because 90% of what people do is habitual, it becomes routine. They depend on what they know. We get our needs met from God,
2. Dependence
We need God to make it through life, yet we prefer to try and make it on our own. He can seem so distant an intangible, only a time of real need can expose the reality that we find true life as we rely on him.
3. Dance
God doesn’t want automatons, he wants to partner with us in bringing his kingdom. Sometimes we think that God wants us to play a frustrating guessing game where he’s hiding the right answer behind his back and asking us to try and figure it out. A better metaphor is that he wants to dance with us. When two people try to lead, it’s awkward, but if one lets the other lead, the two can flow with the music.
Once we’ve been destabilized and recognize that we must depend on him, we realize the fun that dancing with our creator can be.
No coincidence that our preacher taught on redemption this past Sunday, and that what you’ve said expands on what he said. That always amazes me, and it shouldn’t…
oh wow Seth. Thanks for this!
“We are born sleepwalking through life, mistaking our human experience for spiritual reality. We need help seeing things as they really are.” – amen. And even after radical encounters full of the Spirit and this true life, I at least find myself sometimes “sleepwalking” back into old patterns of belief/behaviors.
But not today. Today I think I’d rather dance. 🙂 Thanks for the reminder!
Hey Seth, I get destablization and dependance, but I don’t dance nearly enough. It makes me think of the times I have danced and enjoyed it so much. I don’t dance because I’m uptight and worried about how I look dancing, goofy maybe. But when the rythym and the crowd become overwhelming I give in and then wonder “what was I waiting for?” How many dances have I missed? Too many, but there are so many more.
Thanks Seth, love ya man.
making my core students read this too. thanks seth.