God Wants to Use You

This week we wrapped up this series on "The God of Wonders". As I was reflecting on the last few weeks of this series, I was reminded of the incredible potential that lies within this generation of students. It is truly amazing. There is so much that they can do in their lifetimes. My biggest fear is that they just don't see it. But even if they did see it, and had a desire to use it, I don't think it would be enough to drastically impact some of the biggest issues facing our world today. It truly is going to take an amazing move of God to change the scope of issues like poverty, AIDS, persecution, slavery, etc. But that is good news for us...potentially. God is wanting to move in these issues, and the best part of it is that He would love to use us to make that impact. The question is...are we willing to be used??? Are we willing to open our arms wide, throw our hands in the air and say, "God I can't do it, but I am totally available for You to use however You would like to." That is what I challenged our students to do this week. Make themselves availble to Him to be used however He may choose. I gave them the opportunity to spend some time quietly reflecting on what God wanted them to do with this series. I encouraged them to write out what God spoke to them and to at some point share that with someone...maybe their parents. Please help me to pray for these students and encourage them to make themselves availableto Him...no matter what He wants to do with them.

But What Can I Do?

This week we continued with our "God of Wonders" series and asked the question, "Alright, I know there are some major issues in our world today that need God's intervention, but what can I do about them?". It is easy to look at the issues that we have discussed (poverty, christian persecution, AIDS, human trafficking and slavery) and feel overwhelmed to the point of disinterest and detachment from these issues. However in 1 Kings 16-18 we read about how Elijah dealt with a pretty serious issue and asked some pretty ridiculous things of God...and God answered in some "God-sized" ways. Elijah sets an example for us of just what we can do with big issues in our world today.
First of all Elijah very boldly confronted the issue (I Kings 17:1). He did not hold back at all as he confronted King Ahab, even though he had no earthly authority to do so. He knew that he only had to answer to the true "living" God.
Elijah also obeyed God, even when God asked him to do something that sounded pretty ridiculous by human standards (1 Kings 17:2-7). I believe Elijah's obedience is quite noteworthy. Verse 5 begins by saying "So he went". He did not need any further explanation. He did not need to take some time to pray about this. He did not need to seek counsel from anyone. God told him to go...and he went.
Elijah's obedience allowed him to get away from the hustle and bustle and, in his case, the dangers of this world, so that, he could spend some time alone with his creator. (1 Kings 17:5-7)
And finally Elijah shows us how important it is to pray to God. James 5:17 tells us that Elijah spent time in prayer before this whole encounter Ahab and I Kings 18:42 tells us that he also ended this encounter with prayer.
It may seem pretty cliche-ish, but Elijah really does give a pretty good example of how to deal with these big issues in our world today...1)Boldly confront the issues that God burns on our hearts. 2) Make ourselves available to God and obey His call on our lives. That call is understood and clarified through 3) time alone with God and 4) pray to God.