Message Balls Blog

My desire to see God work through me seems to inspire some and worry others. Some say reading my journey to what I call “The Greater Life” helps them see the possibilities of the power of Jesus in and through them. Some find my pursuit thought-provoking and challenging to their own pursuits in the Lord. Yet another worries that my desire to do the works Jesus did may be misunderstood by some to mean that I want to be Jesus. I stopped to ponder these things after a friend asked me a question. She asked, “Is The Greater Life a destination, or could it be this journey where God is granting your heart’s desire? Might God want you to have an insatiable appetite for His greater good and higher purpose, at all times in all things while you’re sojourning on this earth?” My first thought was that I’d already come to what I called “A Better Life” shortly after my journey began. So if I got there, The Greater Life must be a destination, too, right? As I reflected more on what my friends had to say, God continued teaching me, giving me even more to ponder.

I learned a more effectual way to pray while praying for my brother Glenn before he was taken to surgery. When I asked if I could pray for him, he agreed. So I said a simple prayer, asking God to be with him and to see that everything goes perfectly well. And adding that there would be no pain. As soon as I heard those words come out of my mouth, I thought, “Wait, what?! I just prayed for a painless surgery?” I didn’t say anything, but while Jim and I were in the waiting room, I couldn’t help thinking about the prayer. How crazy I thought it was to pray for a painless surgery. How could there be such a thing? I knew Glenn had had the same surgery before and dreaded the pain. Even so, I could see myself praying for little or tolerable pain, but for no pain? That didn’t seem like something I would think to pray. That’s when I got the idea it was God. God had put those words in my mouth to pray!

Later, after the surgery, it didn’t seem so crazy when my brother had no pain. Not when the anesthesia wore off. Not even after being moved to his room did he want any pain medication. Nor when the physical therapist came to walk him around the hallways. I first suspected a miracle when the therapist was surprised that Glenn had no pain. When Glenn sat up in bed, swung his legs around the side, and stood up, the therapist said, “Wow, most guys would be doubled over in pain.” That was when I was convinced it was a miracle.

When I shared the experience with a pastor at church, she confirmed my thinking that the words I spoke in my prayer were from the Holy Spirit. I was amazed at how easily the miracle came, yet there was something I still didn’t understand. So I asked, “Lord, thank you for bringing my brother through surgery without pain, but he doesn’t know it was You that did that for him. I tried to tell him, but it went right by him. I’m not even sure Jim realizes it was You answering my prayer. I’m the only one that seems to see it, but even I thought it was crazy when I said it. So how did it happen?” That’s when I realized that God was teaching me how to pray effectually; He gives me the words, I speak them out, and He does the work. So simple. And now that I’ve seen how it works, I want to see more!

Later that year, the Lord pointed out something I hadn’t thought to pray for, perhaps because I didn’t think God did those things. The one thing I couldn’t catch onto as the Tech at Bible study was setting the sound volumes for the worship team. From what I understood, I should be able to hear who is singing the melody and who’s singing the harmony and adjust the sliders on the soundboard accordingly. But for some reason, I couldn’t seem to get it right. Neither could the others on my team. To help us, the worship leader started including notes with the lyrics of who would be singing the melody so I’d know to turn that mic up a little. I did my best but judging by their rising level of frustration, it wasn’t working out as planned. I felt awful, but I didn’t know what to do about it. Finally, I went to God with it and said, “Lord, what should I do?”

The answer came Sunday during the sermon at church. While the pastor was talking about harmony in the body of Christ, I heard that I should let the Holy Spirit set the volume levels. My first thought when I heard it was, “But how would He move the sliders on the . . .?” Then, in the middle of my thought, I remembered, “Oh yeah, God can do all things.” Excited about how it would happen, I said, “Ok, Lord, do it! You set the sound levels!” So, Friday, during the sound check, I thought we’d see the sliders move by themselves. But another Tech got to the soundboard first and set the volumes. When I tweaked them a little, we immediately looked at each other and knew it sounded great! At the end of the morning, we got compliments from the worship team and others who came by the sound booth to tell us how good the music sounded. I took it all as confirmation from God that He had set the sound levels. It was further confirmed the following year when guest musicians came to sing Christmas songs. After their performance, the drummer’s father told me we’d done a good job setting the sound volumes. His compliment meant even more to me when he added he was a retired soundman and listed a few big-name sound stages where he’d worked, which included Disney. I relaxed after that, believing God must be pleased to have sent a professional to encourage me.

So, after pondering my friend’s question, I still think The Greater Life is a destination, and I think I’ll recognize it when I get there. It’ll be where I’ll see happen what Jesus talked about in John 14:12: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to My Father.” I admit my motivation in seeking The Greater Life may not always be to please God. I want to see people healed when I pray. I want to know what it’s like to feel the power of God come through me. I want to experience what Jesus said I would in John 14:12. And I believe the Lord is leading me there from what I learned at Reflection Creek. What the Lord taught me when I prayed before my brother’s surgery was a huge step toward it–He gives me the words to say, I say them, and He does the work. So simple! And He slipped those words to me without realizing it was Him until after I thought about it. I didn’t know how God set the sound volumes, and I still don’t. But now that I’ve seen God do things I hadn’t even thought to pray for, I want to see more like it and even greater things.

To be continued . . . see Parade-Park

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 4th, 2023 at 2:21 pm and is filed under The road to the greater life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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