More from the retreat:
When I heard God say to me Tuesday afternoon, “But child, you have a little strength,” I knew that phrase, “little strength” was in one of the letters Jesus gave to a church in the Book of Revelation. I rushed to find it, setting my Bible on the windowsill as I looked out toward the mountains shrouded with storm clouds.
The phrase is in the letter to the church at Philadelphia. My heart broke open and tears began to flow as I read the letter. Philadelphia is my birthplace(!) was my first reaction. Then I began to sob as I realized God was answering something in my spirit and soul that I had placed on His altar the end of last year.
I had prayed to God about staying at The Way Church as pastor. I told Him that if we did not grow this year, I would take that as His confirmation to step down at the end of 2019 and let a younger, stronger, person take over. It wasn’t a fleece, or an ultimatum (neither of which I am certain God has any responsibility to respond to). It was simply my way of confirming what His will was for me.
Well, I was both right and wrong in that prayer. I was right in asking God to reveal to me what He wanted of me for The Way. I was wrong in the determination of the way He would answer – growth=stay, no growth=leave. I limited His choice of response. He answered in a totally different way. He answered in a way that had nothing to do with growth of the Church. He simply confirmed that I had “a little strength.” And then He spoke through the letter to Philadelphia.
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have.” [Rev 3:11]
