The Supernatural in the Mundane

This is Lake 22, a small lake nestled between several mountains near Everett.  We hiked to it as a family on a Sunday afternoon.

I am very excited to say that things continue to happen here in Everett that are being driven by the Lord.  My recent prayers have been that my eyes would be opened so that I would see the Lord working and would join Him, and that has happened.  I have prayed that leaders would join us on this journey and come to do the work, and hearts are being stirred to action without me doing anything.  I have prayed that the Lord would show me what He wants to do here in Everett, and He is!

We had the EFC Family Picnic recently and it was a great success!  Each family was challenged to bring a friend or 3, and many of them did that. We showed up to Hauge Homestead Park in Everett and shared food, games, and fellowshipped together for about 3 hours.  There was no lesson during this week as it was all about spending time together as families.  While that may seem odd or even wrong to some of you if you have grown up in church culture, it is an important step in what we are doing in this ministry.  In the business world, education world, and the church world, we talk about the value of relationships and that everything is based upon those.  Yet we then turn around and make an effort to fill the person's head with a constant stream of information about the Bible and God.  While knowledge isn't bad in and of itself, it is bad if it is the only thing the person has.  Think about your own faith.  You can read books about faith, study it, have Bible studies and discussions about it, but unless you are put into situations where it has to grow or be tested, you don't have faith at all.  Relationships are the same way.  Here, relationships open doors to further talks about Jesus and deepening discipleship with others, and that is why we are here.

We continue our preparations as a church for the mission trip this summer from Humble Area's First Baptist Church in the Houston area.  We met as community pastors last week and have continued to pray about the event and work on the agenda for the week.  As a group we really can't get over the fact that another group of people would want to come in and help us out!  When Jesus said that the "harvest is ripe but the workers are few," he was talking about this place.  Leaders are in short supply, and when others want to come and help us out we feel a giant burden lifted from our shoulders, even if it is for a short time.  Our excitement at the Lord's movement as we plan has only grown with each passing day.

A waterfall along the Boulder River near Oso.

As part of my work each week, I have been planning and organizing all of the details of this event.  Currently I have been ordering materials and gathering supplies for the carnival that we will put on for the community on the Friday of that week.  This will be a culminating event to our vacation Bible school called Kid's Club, and at this event we will invite the families of all of the kids to come enjoy an evening of fun and free food.  One of the items I have had to track down for this event is a portable soundsystem so we can play music while the families play and eat together.  I will come back to this in a minute because the Lord did something amazing in that seemingly small thing that just floored me.

Way back in February I posted about my first sermon which was preached at Oso Community Church in Oso, Washington.  This was the site of the terrible mudslide back in March, and if you have seen many pictures of the slide area you probably have seen that church!  During my time there I met a man named Ray who substituted that day for the music minister.  It was quite snowy that weekend and the regular music minister couldn't make it in due to icy roads.  So Ray led the music that day and I preached on John 6. 

Ray and I have stayed in touch since then and the Lord has continued to stir his heart into more action.  We have been working to keep his adult grandson on the road to Jesus, and I'm hoping to begin a more in-depth discipling work with him.  There's a lot to that story, but I won't share it here out of respect for those involved.

I was talking on the phone with Ray about an issue in his grandson's life this week when Ray told me that he felt the Lord was calling him to "get off of the pew" and get involved.  He proclaimed that he's open to anything and is even open to coming to work with us at EFC in any capacity that we need! One point of that talk will stand out with me for a long time.  Here's a brief recap of that portion of our conversation.

Ray:  "So I have this sound system just collecting dust.  I don't have any use for it."
Me:  "What??"
Ray:  Yeah, it's just sitting in storage.  It isn't being used.
Me:  Tell me more about this sound system Ray!
Ray:  Well, it can probably be used for a crowd of 600 or more.

Me:  Are you kidding me Ray?  I was just looking for a sound system this morning!

We both started laughing and agreed that God was definitely in our midst, even with this simple conversation that had nothing to do with our upcoming event.  This was the sound of a need being met on the spot.  I hadn't even planned on mentioning a sound system to Ray.  Why would I do that?

Things like that seemingly small circumstance stand as reminders that the Lord is totally in this thing.  This wasn't a coincidence, and it wasn't random.  This was God's plan, and to me it felt like Jesus walking up and giving me a hug. 

When was the last time you experienced his "still, small voice" in your life?  Did you overlook it?  Did you brush it off as random chance?  Did you downplay it, thinking that God wouldn't involve Himself in something so insignificant, especially in your life.  If any of these describe you, it is possible you have a wrong perception of the Father.  He is very interested in you.  He thinks about you often, and he even knew you before you were born.  The same God who created every beautiful thing you see around you also desires a real relationship with you.  Many of us (myself included, at one time) think of him as a genie that we bring desires to.  Others see him as angry and distant, only intervening when we do something wrong so he can thump us on the head.  Many times your views of God are tainted by your experiences with your own father.  All of these views of God are incorrect.  This God loves you, even if you don't love Him back.  I have found that He sometimes works through some fairly insignificant detail of your life, and I think at times He does it just to show you that He is still there, involved, and full of care for us.

Open our eyes, Lord, that we might see you in our everyday lives...and join your work!