Crisis of Belief

I find it amazing what great things God can do in a short amount of time. Since joining a new church (Woodland Baptist Church), God is already giving me a vision for ministry within this precious body of believers. Although it has only been two weeks since I joined, there is already a sense of belonging that I have there, and the people are beginning to become like family as I get to know them better. It reminds me of the hymn “Blest be the Tie that Binds,” because Christ is the connection we all have as believers. Our hearts and minds should be unified because of our focus on Him.

I am already seeing how God wants to use me at Woodland, and I have a vision of a youth ministry developing there. There are only a handful of youth in this church, but there are many young people in the community who are not involved with a church, and they have expressed interest in being part of a youth group. That is such an obvious need and opportunity for outreach! I am sensing God’s leadership to be actively involved in establishing a Christ-centered youth group I this church that so desperately needs it.

Basically, we will be starting from ground zero, but God is faithful and will provide. Because He has given me (along with a few other members) this vision, I know He has a great and mighty plan. He has proven faithful in this area in the past, and He will do it again. At my former church, we began a college ministry with only three people (myself included), and in only two years time, it grew to about 15-20 people who were faithfully involved in the group and in leadership positions within the church. I have no doubt God can do the same thing with the youth at Woodland Baptist if we only trust Him with the results. It reminds me of what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3:6-7…”I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow.” If we are faithful in obedience to God, He will take the seeds we sow and make something great of them! We, as humans, have no power to make anything grow, but God does. And I believe He can do more than we can even imagine.

This goes hand-in-hand with what we studied at church on Sunday night. We are going through the “Experiencing God” study, and this week’s session was called “The Crisis of Belief.” It talked about the fact that when God speaks, it will create a crisis of belief, which is when God tells us to do something and we have a choice to make. We will either act in faith and be obedient to His will, or act in unbelief and be disobedient to His will. Whatever we decide reveals what we believe about God, regardless of what we say. Our response to God speaking should be an immediate “Yes, Lord.” We must have faith that nothing is impossible with God and be obedient to what He calls us to do.

So, I guess this vision He has given me is a crisis of belief – I have to make the choice to be obedient to what He is calling me to do. God will demonstrate His faithfulness again and again if we follow Him in obedience.