The Overflow

 It's been a while since my last post in part, because I have been thinking about this for a while, but more so because I haven't had the time to get my thoughts out, but right now this topic has become very important to me. In college I was a Christian Education major. I was involved with praise teams, bible studies and fellowship groups about six days a week and in most of those situations I even held a leadership position. This means I was constantly being filled by God and by the Holy Spirit, right? Not exactly. Certainly the potential was there, but standing up in front of people and professing my faith, talking about the Bible, and singing some songs that led people to worship didn't make me a committed believer. It made me a busy man controlled by schedules and responsibilities.

I have not discovered the point where we are taught that our life in Christ is based on how much time we spend talking or singing about him with other people. Don't get me wrong, these are great opportunities to share the love of Christ with others and to be filled but if it's just another activity on our schedule, then we are missing a vital point. God desires our hearts. He desires time with us and he wants us to share that with other believers in the context of bible study, fellowship groups, and many other means of worship, but he also asks us to meet him in the quiet places. It is easy to show up at a place at a designated time and to talk about what everyone else is talking about, but do we let it affect our lives.

I don't believe that anyone can spend time in the presence of God with their focus on Him and not be changed. God challenges us to think and to live differently. Every song that we sing in worship to Him and every verse of scripture that we read is meant to make us think more about what it means to live a life completely surrendered to Him. Not simply because we owe it to Him, the One who created us, in whom we "live move and have our being" (Acts 17:28), but more so because he desires us. He wants to be in that relationship with us. He knows our hearts. He knew us before we were formed in our mother's womb (Psalm 139). He knows what will we pray and do before it even enters our thoughts. He knows us intimately and he loves us compassionately like no one on earth could love us. So...why is it so hard to listen.

I was a terrible student in high school and college. I rarely read the course material and spent many more classes than I should have doodling and trying to keep my head from hitting the desk when I fell asleep. I think most of us have similar feelings when we go to church, Sunday school or youth group. We have heard these stories all our lives and we know what it means to be a good person like Jesus told us to. We aren't captured by the words and emotions that come out in the gospels and here is my point. I believe each of us is responsible for how we respond to what we hear and are taught, but I believe a major issue is in the ministers of Christ's Kingdom (essentially all of us, but specifically our spiritual leaders). I speak this because I am convicted of it and I have been involved in the lives of people that God has put in my path to minister to and I have not ministered to them completely and as effectively as I could have. God's grace is sufficient, but that's not an excuse to quit moving forward.

Some of the advice that was given to me by other youth pastors and speakers at conferences was that ministry comes from the overflow of our personal relationship. When we draw near to God, we are so consumed by His presence that we can't help but have the desire in our hearts to share it with others. For most of us, here is what happens. We go to camp, church, a bible study, a retreat, a conference, etc. and we come back "on fire" for God. Whatever that speaker or pastor spoke to us, God used to really hit the spot. We are living in the overflow, and it's pouring out of us for...a couple months...a week...a day? What happened? We stopped being filled. We stopped seeking to know him more deeply on a daily basis. We relied on other people to speak His life into us and we lived on that, but once it's gone, we feel empty, like God picked us up and then left us hanging. We call these "spiritual highs" and "spiritual lows." I know this feeling very well, but it's not meant to be this way.

God wants to meet us consistently. He is a God who never changes. He never leaves our side. He is as close to us in the mountains as he is the valley but we can't bring ourselves to listen and to draw near. It's not enough to go to church and bible study and hope that God will pour into us through those people. We have to seek Him. He says, "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart" (Jer. 29:13). If we seek Him with all of our hearts, we will find him in the midst of joy and sorrow, happiness and pain, the mountains and the valleys. Why is this so important?

Part of the impetus for writing this was that I was upset with the advice that ministry must come from the overflow, because let's be honest, most of us aren't consistently overflowing. What happens when there is no overflow. First, I believe that God uses us in our weakness. It's not easy and may even feel burdensome at times, but God will use us because ministry is for his glory, not ours. His grace is enough. The point I think many of my colleagues were trying to get across is that the effectiveness of His ministry in our lives is directly correlated with our own spiritual walk with Him. When we consistently acknowledge the presence of God in our lives we can't help but praise him and lift him up in our lives and our conversations with others. They will see His life and His glory as he shines through us and be drawn to His heart.

This is much easier said than done, but I challenge you to try it.

Start with five or ten minutes in the word when you wake up in the morning or before you go to bed (make sure you are awake and not just reading the words...been there). Focus on what God is teaching you through your relationships and prayers. Allow yourself to be affected by the life that he lived. I am confident that He will reveal Himself to you. Pray for a deeper connection to Him. We are all ministers to those around us, so let it come from the overflow, but remember to keep being filled by His word with others and in your personal time. I'll encourage you with these verses from Luke and Matthew:

"But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." Luke 5:16 

Jesus (sinless, perfect, One w/ God) needed to withdraw from the crowds and from his ministry to spend personal time with His father. It was necessary for Him. How much more is it necessary for us.

"But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." Matt. 6:6

 Remember our reward is in heaven. God wants to fill us with His love so that we can minister to others and share his love with the others. The reward in heaven will be great. We will see those he has used us to minister to standing with us in praise to the Almighty.