Stability // March

We live in a fast paced and busy world. We go from task to task, from one thing to the next without stopping and before we know it, the day is over. We live with a frantic pace.

They say human beings walk 3mph. Jesus walked everywhere. You could say it was a product of his time, until you begin to see the intention he lived with. Jesus lived a busy life, but he was never in a rush. He didn’t forsake quiet moments with His Father. He took time to withdraw from the crowds and was flexible enough to be interrupted. He went at the pace of 3mph. Matt Canlis says,

“You have to slow down enough to catch up to God.”

Matt is describing the very opposite spirit we have to cultivate as leaders. We have to slow down enough to catch up to what God is saying and doing, not only in ourselves, but in the members of our Ekklesias. It’s realizing that the process of redemption is slow. Watch the video on Stability here.

Wait

Wait for the Lord;
    be strong and take heart
    and wait for the Lord.

– Psalm 27:14

Waiting is one of the most difficult spiritual practices in a microwave type world. But its in intentional moments of waiting that helps us slow down and see how rich God’s presence is in every moment. It’s in slowing down that we catch up to God.

Here are some tips to slow down and wait on God’s presence:
– Eliminate distractions, like constantly looking at your phone. Try grayscaling it!
– Limit the number of hours dedicated to media per week.
– Spend time with God with no agenda (i.e. not asking for anything or to produce something).

Water

“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” –1 Corinthians 3:6-7

You can’t water a plant all at once. It’s not like filling up a gas tank. Watering a plant takes care, time, attention. You have to check in and see how it’s doing. It requires long-suffering. The benefit of walking with others for a long time is that you stay long enough to see God’s grace working within them. You begin to see people as Eugene Peterson began to see them: not as problems to be fixed, but as mysteries to be explored.

View your Ekklesia like a garden you need to tend to, knowing your job is to be present and you will see God grow your members into Christlikeness.

Watering doesn’t mean 3 hour conversations on the phone. It can be as simple as a short text message.

Here is to waiting on the Lord together and taking the time to water as we see our God grow us from the inside out.