It's Working

Church was amazing this Sunday! We expected a quiet morning as rumors of a third wave of COVID rippled through the nation. I took my place next to Chris on the front row ten minutes after the service started. Several new families had poured in the door at the last minute, and I was helping them get their kids checked in. Chris leaned in to me when I joined him and asked, "Is it empty in here?" I whispered that I couldn't see any open seats.

The building is filling. Hearts are transforming. Relationships are healing. Life is happening again.

Church is working! It's doing what God said it would do!

I listen to Chris preach and am awed by the power pulsing through his words. I hear his conversations before and after the service, and I watch him reach out to people during the week. The calling God whispered into his life when he was 16 years old is being fulfilled. The anointing God showed me my man had for this role in 2016 is activated.

Today... just today... I've had three moms tell me they want to help me personally. They are busy, powerful, faith-filled moms, and they have approached ME to say they want to serve the vision for Help Club and build God's Kingdom. Busy moms are stepping into Kingdom roles and making space for others to be discipled. Emails and messages are pouring in for our new Bible study, and God is giving us a national platform.

He said I would strengthen families. I never imaged it would look like this.

On Sunday night, when Chris and I fell into bed with the right kind of Sunday tired, we talked about how we couldn't believe God was using us. Normal people with nothing special to offer. We get to do this! I told Chris how often I feel awestruck that "it's working". God really is doing what He said He would do.

Church is working. People are turning to Jesus. They are bringing more people. And those people are turning to Jesus.

Help Club is working. Marriages are being restored. Moms are finding their identities in Christ. They are stepping into leadership roles to impact other moms.

I teach people that "it works" all the time. God's name is I AM. HE IS. He will do what He says He will do. He is not slow in answering His promises. He works all things out for the good of those who love Him.

But for 10 years, things have felt like they were going backward to me. God kept saying things. We kept claiming them. But there was no evidence. Without realizing it, I settled into a lifestyle of saying what God says, believing who He is, but not expecting to ever see it happen in my lifetime. Delays and backslides were more our style.

I shouldn't be shocked that "it's working". But I am. I am shocked that I get to be a part of it. I can't believe the God who I said I believe but didn't really believe all the way, is patient enough to sill work.

I've read this verse a thousand times in the last ten years:

"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:9

And I finally see it.

I see that God wasn't waiting around just so others could see His glory through our story. That's how I had rationalized His silence and my hurt. It was for me the whole time. I needed to be completely sure that what was working was really HIS working, and it didn't have anything to do with my works.

He was never slow, never late, and nothing ever backslid. He was patiently and lovingly helping me come to a place of worshiping Him no matter what was happening around me. It was me who needed to repent of my expectations of God and my life.

It's thrilling and absolutely amazing to see things "working" around us. Visa applications are in process. Church is growing. Help Club is expanding. Our family is thriving. But you know what's really working? God. In me. All day. Every day. Because He is so kind, so gentle and so faithful.

He is so mighty to save - even when we think we don't need saving.