The Audacity

I have really been challenged recently by a book written by Steven Furtick called "Sun Stand Still". The gist of the book is that in today's world we could really use more of the audacious faith that Joshua displayed in Joshua 10:12&13 where he actually asks God to make the sun stand still in the sky and extend a day. When I read this I thought it so perfectly fit with the series that we are currently doing that I knew I had teach last night from Joshua 10. (it would be well worth your time to go read this account right now)

Live out an audacious faith and pray audacious prayers. This is basically what this whole "God of Wonders" series has been calling our students to do, and Joshua 10 shows, from Scripture that God approves of this thinking. There are some huge needs in our world today that are going to require some HUGE interventions from God. But the cool thing is that God apparently Big enough to do just that and answer some big requests. We talked a lot last night about the fact that most of us have never seen God move in ways that are similar to what we read about in scripture. Think about the miracles that you have seen...any of them look like the parting of the Red Sea, water turning to wine, manna falling from heaven, fire coming down from heaven to burn an alter, or the sun stopping in the sky for about a day. Why do we not see things like this? I am not minimizing the miracles we do see today... a child being born, a person healed from disease, someone surviving a horrific car accident...but, many miracles in scripture seem to look a bit different to me. Why? Maybe it is because we are not asking BIG things of God. That's what this series is all about. We have a Big God, who has the power (and I believe the desire) to do big things in some very difficult situations.

Think about it. These issues we are talking about (poverty, AIDS, human trafficking, the persecuted church) are setting up the perfect recipe for God to move. These issues are way to big for us to do anything about them...most of us have already succumbed to that fact and become apathetic already. Now God has the perfect opportunity to move mightily and intervene in miraculous ways so that only He can receive the glory that He deserves. Maybe he is just waiting for a generation of Christians to step forward in humility and obedience and ask some big, audacious things of God. It is my prayer that this generation might be that generation... if we will empower and encourage them to be.