I’m going to say something that might be obvious to you. It’s something that needs to be said repeatedly. And it’s something we should never forget but I’m afraid that sometimes we do.
We need God. When it comes to building a healthy church, we need God. When it comes to making disciples, we need God. When it comes to seeing lives and eternities transformed, we need God. When it comes to putting together mission, vision and ministry plans, we need God. When it comes to finding our next pastor or church, we need God. We need God.
It seems obvious right? But we can act like it isn’t obvious. Too often we can get so keyed in on finding the next formula, model, program or curriculum that we leave God out of the equation entirely. We want to rush the process or steps and we forget to pray. We read the book or attend the conference and we start to make changes without listening for God’s voice. Which is weird, wrong and dangerous because we need God.
One pastor I was listening to recently said it this way, “We can build the best sailboat in the world but we can’t make the wind blow. God is going to do what God is going to do. No program or plan can force Him to make our plans work. So we need God. We need the one who makes the wind blow.”
So what can we do? We can be ready. We can put ourselves in the best position possible to respond when the wind blows. That’s what plans, programs, models and all of that is for. So I’m NOT saying, “Chuck all that stuff away and just build your boats.” But lets just make sure we aren’t putting all of that ahead of or in place of God.
Seek. Pray. Listen. Respond obediently. Do all you can to be ready for the wind to blow.
So I am going to keep saying this because it’s true and we can’t forget it. We need God.
Marc McAlister
Director of Church Health, FMCIC
