Your Holy Huddle Is God's Target (Bill White)

Your Holy Huddle Is God's Target (Bill White)

Acts 8 has always made me nervous.  The church has grown and is doing lots of good ministry in Jerusalem – and yet God is not happy with it.  What?  I thought we were supposed to grow and do good ministry, so what’s the problem? 

 

Apparently, even for the early church, the good was the enemy of the best.  They hunkered down in Jerusalem and did good ministry there.  But that was not the best they could do.  It wasn’t God’s best.  God wanted them to MOVE OUT and reach the world, but they preferred their holy huddle. 

 

So God gently nudged them out, right?  No.  God drove them out by pointing the tip of a sword at their rear ends.  God allowed (brought?) persecution to budge them from their holy huddle.  If you don’t believe me, compare Acts 8:1 to Acts 1:8!  And it worked – Philip got the message and the gospel finally got to Samaria.

 

Is your God like that?  Does he drive you out of your mediocrity, your comfortable group of friends, your spiritual plateau by sending hardship, pain, or persecution?  Could that opposition you’re facing at work or in your health actually NOT be the ‘spiritual attack’ you thought but rather the divine cattle prod to get you onto his mission?  Or is your god too soft and accommodating to do that sort of thing?

 

Tell me what you think – does God send hardship and persecution like this or not?  And if so, what is that saying to you?  Post away!

Posted on Sun, July 27, 2008 by Bill White

6 comments (Add your own)

1. Ron wrote:
With me it's not so much hardships, pain or persucution as it is that He puts me in situations that cause me to make a choice to get out of my comfortable box. At the moment I make the choice I don't think it's such a good one but time after time it has been. Apprently God knows what he's doing.

Mon, July 28, 2008 @ 12:48 PM

2. Matt wrote:
This message has been truly helpful to me. At work we are finishing up our biggest contract and moving on. For the last several years I have been pretty much locked up in my office auditing this job. With it coming to an end it is a pretty big blow to the wallet of my company, but at the same time I get to get out of the office now and make my own contacts and meet all sorts of new people. While this will be a difficult time for the company, this will be a great bleesing to me and hopefully I will be able to stay strong and follow where God is trying to lead me and this company. This will be a very interesting time as I move forward and trust in the Lord.

Mon, July 28, 2008 @ 1:01 PM

3. Vlad wrote:
My car has bee out of commission for over a month now and I've been getting around using public transportation. For a couple of weeks now I've been feeling the holy spirit urging me on to start up a converstaion with the random people I see on the bus. Usually I see no one else holding up a conversation so I excuse myself from the opportunity. I often get off the bus disappointed in my disobedience. At first I thought not having a car was a hardship but I'm beginning to see it at as an opportunity for kingdom building. Please pray that I would have the boldness to love people enough that I feel compelled to share with them the good news.

Tue, July 29, 2008 @ 8:56 AM

4. casually speaking wrote:
God should move us out of our comfort zone. I have noticed how easy it is to stay in a "comfortable" place in my career. God through prayer, prodding and his word has called me out of my comfort zone so much so that I am now asking for a transfer to another part of the school district I teach. The adminstration looked at me sideways when I asked to be moved (especially after I told them it was a God thing). The next step to this move could be Compton. Going to a district that is state run, where much of it's administrative cabinet is being pushed out, and quite frankly the school's are a war zone is less than appealing to a man who has young children and can walk to his place of employment. This kind of "transfer" is not a me thing for sure. But I noticed in the sermon on Sunday, that the early church followers wouldn't ask to go to many of the places they went. But in there wisdom and convictions they went. We need to pray for wisdom and search the word so that we too are not held at complacency, but rather step up and let God do the huge work in His redeemed.

Wed, July 30, 2008 @ 7:57 AM

5. Kristi wrote:
Does our God who sends good and perfect gifts also send hardships and persecution? My answer is yes, though I have a hard time with it.

Today in my VBS class we talked about forgiveness. A girl in my class (we shall call her Jasmine) shared that this year in school a few girs got together to write a nasty note about her. They called Jasmine ugly and swore not to play with her. Things escalated until there was a meeting with the principal. Jasmine said, "They really hurt me, but I forgave them." We talked about Jesus and the hurt he experienced on the cross, Jasmine forgave because she knew she was forgiven.

I have a hard time with girls writing nasty letters to my dear friend Jasmine. I have a hard time saying that this hardship in her life was directly from God. But I can see God's hands all over it, in a pretty good and perfect way.

Wed, July 30, 2008 @ 5:56 PM

6. LoLo wrote:
I decided to finally clean up the reckage of my past and try and start a new way of life. Because of my past part of my new start was turning myself in on some old warrants that I had due to my drug addiction. I sat in jail wondering how I was going to get threw it and as I looked around I saw women that were struggling with the same problems I struggled with during my active addiction. One thing that I struggled with the most was getting over the obsession to use. I prayed for the obsession to be lifted and only by the grace of a loving God He answered my prayer. I know that was his gift to me. It's up to me what I do with that gift. I talked to these women and told them a little about my story. I told them that God had given me the freedom from active addiction and that they too can recieve the gift if they pray for it. Sometimes we only pray when we are suffering and forget to thank God for the gifts that he gives us when we least expect him to. We have all been in a tough situation and prayed "Lord get me out of this one and I will never do it again." I finally realized God never gave me more than I could handle and even in my active addiction, never turned his back on me. Because God knows I have fought long and hard for the life I have today He has given me the words to share my story with other women that are going threw what I have been threw and I am able to offer them hope and serenity. God is wonderful, and I am just starting this journey but have faith that He will get me threw this clean. I am forever grateful that I was able to still see Him working on me even when I was hopeless and helpless. I am able to share His glory because of the gift that He so freely gave to me. Thank God for new beginings and for the power of prayer.

Sat, August 2, 2008 @ 7:03 PM

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