Stop! Pray! Wait! Go!

Things have been pretty crazy lately. There are a bazillion things swirling around in the church offices. I'm not even sure if there is a number like a bazillion - but it's surely got to mean something close to what we're experiencing these days.

• new children's ministry director
• new youth ministry director
• finding and coordinating office help while Karen (our church secretary) has been out.
  
• currently searching for an interim Trinity Tots Director

When things go crazy like the way things have been around here lately, it is the ultimate test to see what we're made of. Either we will collapse and blow up as a result of all the stress and challenges that comes from all the changes happening, or we will rise to the challenge and demonstrate what the power and the grace of Jesus Christ is all about.

If we're going to be in the latter - rising to the challenge and demonstrating the glory of Jesus Christ - we will not do it by our strength and wisdom.

Here's something that's been helping me. Whenever I find things going crazy around me, and when I find that the chaos and uncertainty swirling around wanting to suck me in to its vortex, I say to myself, "Stop! Pray! Wait! and Go!"

The first thing I do is to stop! There's not a thing on earth I can do about the things that are swirling around me. And I just need to tell myself to stop. And the craziest thing starts to happen - things that were swirling around me slow down. I can see them more clearly. I can see what needs to get done. But before I can do that, I need to stop.

The second thing is that as I begin to see the issues and problems, I need to pray. I don't need my own thoughts on how to fix things. I've found that when I try to fix things they tend to get worse. We need an expert opinion. What more expert expert do we need than God who created all things? The second thing I do is to ask God what He thinks about all these things.

The third thing is to wait! God will speak. God will guide. But we must wait to hear. It's not because God is not speaking that we have to wait. We have to wait so we can be ready to hear. Often times, when I pray, I am not ready to hear. I'm too busy spouting off what's going on in my heart and in my mind. I need to wait to quiet these things down so I can hear God.

When God does speak, I need to Go! I need to act. It may very well be things that I don't particularly feel like doing. It often times is confronting things in people and me that I would rather avoid. But, what's the point of praying, waiting and listening, if I'm not going to do anything about that?

Final thing is that we must act. We've got to go.

So, as I find myself in the place where the swirling storm wants to suck me in - I'm going to Stop! Pray! Wait! and Go!

I'll see you on the other side of this storm!