About eighteen months ago, I went along to a worship and ministry evening at a great church in Maidenhead. During the evening, I received a prophetic painting of a set of knitting needles and a ball of yarn. The painter told me that she felt that God was unravelling me!! The previous roles in ministry that I had held were changing. God wanted to unravel me, and then re-wind me, so that I could be knitted into a new garment. How exciting is that?!?! The painter had no idea that I was a knitter as we'd not met before!!
Later that evening, I was prayed for and anointed with oil, in preparation for the new ministries that God had in store for me. It felt really significant, and I came home full of excitement. You see, for years I have wanted to preach. I've shared my personal story both privately and in public, and I have always enjoyed public speaking. At university, I did a Theatre degree and I was a secondary school teacher for a period of time, so speaking to large groups of people is something I've always found easy and lots of fun. Plus, I often felt that my casual chats with friends turned into sermons, as so often I had really strong feelings about things and felt unable to keep them to myself!!!
So, I waited. I waited for opportunities. I waited for God to tell me what to preach about. I waited for training. I waited for encouragement. I waited for an invitation to speak. I waited....
I've had a few opportunities to preach. I have loved every minute of it. My amazing husband, Dave has been preaching for years, and so he has passed on lots of great advice and wisdom that, in turn, had been shared with him. The best piece of wisdom he passed on came from his friend and former mentor, David Brown, who told him that before we can preach a sermon, the Holy Spirit must first preach it to us.
Great advice. Such wisdom. So much sense!! So, with that in mind, I'd love to share with you something that God is preaching to me about at the moment.
This week, God has called me to change the way I worship Him. Last Sunday, I stood at the back of church , singing, watching my kids run about, and watching other peoples' kids doing the same!!! I watched the church worship, and then I turned to my beautiful friend, Wendy. Wendy is a pleasure to know. She is a delight to spend time with, and she loves Jesus passionately.
As I watched her worship, I noticed a difference between her and the rest of our church. Despite her tiny frame, understated clothes, and incredibly gentle and shy personality, Wendy is extravagant, when it comes to worship. In fact, when it comes to Jesus, she is extravagant, full-stop. She loves to read her bible. She loves to pray. She loves to worship. She loves to introduce others to Jesus and to His church. She cannot stand attention and is not at all into public speaking, but she worships God loudly, whole-heartedly, with her whole body, and without inhibition.
Wendy has four young children and a husband, who often plays in the worship team, and yet she is somehow able to focus on Jesus in worship, listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying, and respond with every fibre of her being. To me, she embodies the verse, "Let everything within me praise Him!" I had to share my feelings with Wendy, that God delights in her extravagance greatly!!!
I was reminded of the woman, in the bible, who broke a precious and valuable jar of perfume, over the feet of Jesus, and then wiped His feet with her hair. I suddenly understood what that woman did, and why it pleased Jesus so much. It was her extravagance. She gave Him everything she had, including any ounce of pride that may have remained within her. She risked making a fool of herself. She risked rejection. She risked ridicule. She risked it all. She surrendered it all.
Being extravagant is not about showing off. It's not about being the centre of attention. It's about our hearts, and it's about rising it all.
How many times have I sung the words, "I surrender all", with my arms in the air, but my mind on the opinions of others? Have I surrendered all? Really? How many times have I held back, fearing that I might look silly?
During this week, God has confirmed in me another calling on my life. This calling involved my husband too. We feel that God has called us to extravagance when it comes to giving. Let me be clear. We are not giving more money that other people. In fact, we're most likely giving less. But, God is calling us to be extravagant in our faith, when it comes to giving and trusting God for His provision. We have seen God's amazing, miraculous provision in our lives very recently. It has amazed us and blessed us. It has built our faith. But it had always come after we have stepped out in faith with our money. When we have given to Gift Days at our church, we have handed over money that has been specifically put aside for other things - holidays, cars, carpets. Every single time, we have still been able to have those things...and more!!! A once-in-a-lifetime anniversary trip to New York City. A Honda CRV, big enough for our whole family, in perfect condition. A free Blue-Ray DVD player, better than our current DVD player!! £1000 in cash, as a gift, from a friend who felt God prompt her to give it to our family. Car repairs paid for outright. Boxes of groceries left on our doorstep. Cheques handed over. Cash handed over. A brand new Citroen Zsara Picasso, just before I gave birth to our second child. A coffee bought by a friend. Brunch from my friend. A day in a lovely health spa. A week's holiday. A deposit for a house. A new pair of shoes. A romantic night out for Dave and I.
I was always taught that the money we receive is not ours, it belongs to God. He has given us money to see what we will do with it.
With the money that God has given us, Dave and I we have bought random bags of cookies, DIY supplies that have remained unused in our shed, clothes that didn't fit properly, shoes that I've worn once, cushions that get thrown off the bed anyway, expensive (and popular) toys that broke within minutes of being given to our kids, haircuts that no-one notices, a surround-sound system that never got connected to out TV, another mascara, dinners that we didn't finish and countless other things. We've also managed to obtain silly loans and an overdraft. Not exactly great use of God's gift. We feel cross with ourselves. Who are we to misuse God's money so very badly?
So, we have decided to make a change. We will be extravagant in our giving and extravagant in our faith. We will be self-controlled and disciplined with our spending, of both God's money and God's time.
When God gave us Jesus, He gave the most precious thing He had. He gave extravagantly. When Jesus gave His life for us, He gave up the most precious relationship available - a relationship with God. He gave extravagantly.When we worship, we can choose to hold something back, or be extravagant. When we give our tithes and offerings, we can hold some back for "a rainy day", or trust our Lord and Saviour to shelter us from the rain!!! We can live lives limited by our weaknesses, lack of faith and inhibitions. Or, we can be radical. We can be extravagant, just like God has been with us.
Is it really too much for us to give it all back...extravagantly? Doesn't He deserve it?
as not fast enough for me. When I finally received my coffee, faking a smile, thanking him through gritted teeth, I grumbled to my poor, long-suffering husband as we left the service station, stating the wait to be the longest I had EVER experienced for a coffee, and asking him to remind me to avoid this coffee shop in future. The coffee, incidentally, was delicious and was demolished in minutes.
