There are three preachers that I love listening to. I could listen to them preach all day every day: Joyce Meyer, Joel Osteen, and Pastor Steve DeNeff. They all have a gift of intertwining stories and analogies with scripture in a way that makes God's message clear to me.
Today is a perfect example. I listened to Pastor Steve talk about how one in seven people revert to their previous behavior after giving their life to Christ and one in four move forward in their faith, while the rest get stuck and either spin their wheels (like a car stuck in a snowdrift) or they sit and do nothing waiting for someone to come along and move them.
I have to admit, I am in the majority that have stalled with my spiritual growth. I don't know what to do so I do nothing which is worse than at least trying to do something even if you do a miserable job of it. I think I haven't done anything for that very reason. I have a fear of failure that I attach to every calling which often stalls the idea before it begins.
So, I'm sitting in the pews listening to Pastor Steve plead to his congregation to "do something" when out of the blue, I hear a voice say, "The Daniel Plan". Over and over while Pastor Steve is preaching I hear "The Daniel Plan". Is that God telling me joining or leading The Daniel Plan study group is something I could do to move forward in faith?
I have led a Daniel Plan study group before and while it was enlightening, I didn't feel like it was particularly successful, at least not for me anyway. Nothing changed as a result of what I learned. Or did it? Did that class plant a seed?
God keeps nudging me in this leadership direction, but I keep dismissing it, preferring to stay in my comfort zone because it feels safe there. The problem with the comfort zone is that it doesn't take you anywhere. It's that place where you stagnate and stay stuck in mind, body and spirit. Comfort is the only thing being in the comfort zone brings, not success, spiritual growth, or happiness. The trade off for curling up in the comfort zone is the nagging knowledge that life has more to offer than what you have settled for.
This all reminds me of a story I heard years ago about a sailor stuck in a storm at sea, praying for God to calm the waters so he can reach the safe shore. God sends a rescue team, but the sailor sends them away because he is waiting for God to answer his prayer in the way he thinks it should be.
Is that what I'm doing? Sending away the ideas and help God sends to me? Dismissing his calling all the while praying for a miracle to help me get healthy and help others do the same?
It's food for thought. In the meantime, I think I will go with God's nudging and Pastor Steve's invitation to "Do Something" and get a group together to study The Daniel Plan!
