The Audacity

Last night I had the mid-week opportunity to hear Pastor Steven Furtick preach on the subject of audacious faith. I don't think I can adequately express how thankful I am to have a leader like Pastor Furtick share God's word with me and continually encourage, challenge, support and convict me. My faith continues to grow in leaps in bounds, and I have no doubt that Pastor Furtick has been a catalyst in that.

Pastor preached last night from Joshua 10:12-14 and challenged us to seize God's vision for our lives. Few people have seized that vision quite like he has, and he preached that whatever vision we think God has for us, that calling is actually bigger than we think. I got goosebumps and was completely floored when he said, "If the size of the vision God has for your life isn't intimidating to you, then it's probably insulting to God."

I am constantly in prayer that I will recognize the Lord's vision for me, but I am so guilty of downsizing that calling to a manageable size. Something I can wrap my head around, and ultimately, something I can check off my list as done. That's not the purpose God has for me or for you. Instead of feeling like we've "made it" and accomplished that great and mighty "It" set before us, the point of our lives is to be continuously striving to fulfill "it." God's power is too limitless to quantify, and so too, is the plan that God has to use each and every one of us for His glory.

You can't possess audacious faith without activating it. As Pastor Furtick calls it from the Joshua scriptures, "your Sun Stand Still prayer." Joshua commanded the sun to literally stand still in the sky, and the Lord rewarded his audacity to ask by manifesting His power to act. But when you ask the sun to stand still, the results of that great prayer are not visible immediately. It takes time to see whether or not the sun has moved, and so too will your sun stand still prayer require patience and continued faith - not a one-time action.

Immediately before and after Joshua prayed for the sun to freeze in the sky, he most certainly wondered whether the Lord would affirm his request. He didn't doubt whether He COULD, but he also recognized that God didn't HAVE to respond. When you and I experience a word from God about our lives and His calling on them, there will always be a certain degree of uncertainty in place. A resonating message from Pastor Furtick's sermon last night stated that "audacious faith is not birthed in the absence of ambiguity." And truly, without ambiguity where is there a place for faith and trust? Without some measure of vagueness, there is no room left for dependence on an unseen God to act on our behalf.

Audacious faith and those momentous Sun Stand Still prayers are not, absolutely not, passive. In fact, they require more action than almost any other aspect of our lives. You must be willing to make a move. It is essential that your trust in our Heavenly Father extends beyond the words and petitions of your heart and into a realm where you don't second guess the notion that God may use you to be the very miracle that you are praying for. How can you expect God to accomplish something through you if you aren't willing to be the hands and feet needed to accomplish it? God's power can overcome your weaknesses and accomplish His vision for your life in spite of your shortcomings, and His power will empower your strengths supernaturally. After all, the same power that conquered the grave lives in you. Have the faith and courage to act AUDACIOUSLY according to that truth.