There is a confidence that we have not fully embraced and a dissatisfaction we have not
fully acknowledged.
At the beginning of October, on my return from a teaching trip, I went on a 3-day personal
retreat. I had high, if somewhat vague, expectations of meeting with the Lord at a fresh
and deeper level.
Initially, my time was one of disappointment as it seemed that the more I wanted a
breakthrough the less I could figure out how to get it. Until through a little daily devotional
book I had with me, the Lord invited me to let go of my striving and to come to him in
simple, childlike faith – to believe beyond the limitations of my finite understanding. And to
enjoy the adventure!
So I backed off from trying to get a breakthrough – not so easy to do as I had to deal with
my inbuilt need to do something to draw closer to God’s heart – and spent the rest of my
time enjoying long walks and relaxing in the silence of my surroundings – but, when it
came time to return home I did so with a sense of failure – I had not had that deeper
encounter I had hoped for.
However, while in the car, I became aware of a deeper level of contentment in my heart –
a new place of confidence in who God is, and who I am in him. In Psalm 16:7-8 (The
Passion Translation – TPT) David says:
The way you counsel and correct me makes me
praise you more, for your whispers in the night give me wisdom, showing me what to do
next. Because you are close to me and always available, my confidence will never be
shaken, for I experience your wrap-around presence every moment.”
Our confidence is not rooted in our good intentions or our best efforts – it is rooted in our
childlike abandonment to the truth that our God loves us deeply, is always present, and
always faithful.
We are living in unpredictable times and are facing challenges, difficulties and hardships
that we would not have anticipated at the beginning of the year. It is this confidence in
who God is, and who we are in him, that empowers us to be content in this season in the
knowledge that he will navigate us through it.
That said, there is a contentment that we need to shake off.
The Bible begins and ends with the Kingdom of God. In Genesis 1 and 2 we see the
creation of the heavens and the earth, and man’s appointment as overseers of it. In
Revelation 21:10,11 (TPT) we read of “...the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of
heaven from God. It was infused with the glory of God …”
Our world was created to be the show-case of heaven but our sin disfigured it even as it
broke our relationship with God.
So Jesus came, as Isaiah 43:25 tells us, to forgive our sin for his own sake:
To restore our broken relationship with him, and to re-empower us to show-case his Kingdom. His life,
death and resurrection were about the restoration of God’s original intent.
And his message was the message of the Kingdom of God:
“At last the fulfillment of the age has come! It is time for the realm of God’s kingdom to be
experienced in its fullness!” Mark 1:15 (TPT)
“The privilege of intimately knowing the mystery of God’s kingdom realm has been granted
to you, ..” Mark 4:11 (TPT)
He commissioned us to go in his name – to do the greater things than he did – to cast out
demons – to heal the sick. He promised that signs and wonders would follow those who
believe. Paul reminds us that “… the kingdom realm of God comes with power, not simply
impressive words.” 1 Corinthians 4:20 (TPT)
And yet it seems we have become content with so much less than what God intended for
us.
We have the calling; we have the vision; but where is the power?
We will not disciple nations without the manifestation of God’s power in and through our
lives and ministries.
While we are content in the knowledge of God’s hand upon us in this season we need to
acknowledge our dissatisfaction with the powerlessness of our testimony as we reach out
to a hurting world. We need to shake off our contentment with the normal and cry out with
our whole being for God to do in us whatever it takes for his power to be made manifest
in our lives.
If we want to reach our full potential in God we need to pursue afresh our mandate to
know God with our whole heart. The world is waiting to encounter the power of God’s
limitless compassion.
Mike Oman
Mike grew up in Zimbabwe and is married to Ros with two children and five grandchildren. In 1979 they attended a Discipleship Training School (DTS) in South Africa. In 1991 the Lord called them to Northern Ireland where they started the first long-term YWAM ministry in the country. They stepped out of line leadership in 2007 and now have an eldership role in YWAM Western and Central Europe. His passion is pursuing the Fatherheart of God, and fathering the fatherless.