When God Doesn't Move // Micah

Have you ever prayed hard for something and got nothing? It can be disheartening when are passionate cries for physical or spiritual healing seem to end with continued brokenness. It can feel vain to continue asking when calls directed to heaven are seemingly returned to earth with the sound of silence.

Our faith can be deeply challenged when we desperately call for the winds of change, believe God for it, and yet find our sails hanging limp. What do we do when we believe God for the shifting of the mountain and find it where we left it? What do we do when we ask but God doesn't move?

Some walk away. "If He can and He didn't He is not kind. If He's kind and He couldn't then He's not able," they reason.

Some turn to shame. "I must not have prayed right, believed well or maybe I am no longer loved by God at all," they fear.

Some turn to God. "He is sovereign over life and death. His vantage point is not limited by time or space. And while I want my prayer answered the way I prayed it, I want Him more than I want anything. I admit God is far too infinite for my finite mind to intellectually master His. I trust that He is ultimately working all things for our good and His glory, even when it appears He hasn't moved.”

May we trust God, when we call out to Him for a way forward and the seas part before our feet, and may we hold fast to His unchanging power and perfect nature when we ask and God Doesn't Move.

"So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, he stayed where he was for the next two days." John 11:5-6

"When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.” John 11:32

"And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." Romans 8:27-28

- Micah McElveen

Wisdom From a Blanket // Micah

Standing alone, individual pieces of fabric are relatively weak and unimpressive. However, a threads attractiveness and functional value are tremendously enhanced when interwoven with others. Weaving unearths a phenomenon producing an end result that is both strong and beautiful.

One would think that three interwoven cords are three times as strong as one, but it isn't, it's greater. Something mysterious yet scientific occurs when individual strengths are combined. Instead of resiliency output doubling, a multiplying force materializes bringing to bear a power the Greeks called "synergia." Articulated in English, synergy is "the working together of two things to produce an effect greater than the sum of their individual effects." In other words, 1 cord plus 1 cord, interwoven, equals 3 cord strength. When cooperative elements are effectively intertwined a powerful functional capacity is unveiled.

A similar reality is produced as two become one on the visual side of the equation. Blue and green merged produce hazel, a beautiful third hue. Previously fixed color palates are expanded through the enmeshing of distinct tones. The allure, like a kaleidoscope, can be quite breath-taking, as the combining of varying shades allows altogether new colors to emerge.

As a magnificent quilt, which provides beauty to the eye and protection from the elements, is a result of a thousand threads that alone do little, so is the body of Christ. Powerfully beautiful potential is unleashed when we come together in one accord under one Lord offering our time, talent, treasure and influence to be intertwined for one world-changing purpose. As we pursue the otherwise impossible, the good of man and glory of Christ in all Nations, may we heed the Wisdom From A Blanket.

"A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken." Ecclesiastes 4:12

"Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other." Romans 12:4-5

- Micah McElveen

Surrender Equals Peace // Micah

A plant that towers above the soil originates from a seed that must first be buried beneath the earth. So it is with some of the most impactful things in life, they come about through some of the most counterintuitive means. This is true of realizing peace.

Our instincts say we must fight, gain control, and maintain options in order to find and sustain peace. The thought of "throwing our hands in the air," "laying all our cards on the table," or "putting all our chips in one basket" strikes the average person as unwise if not reckless. The thought of surrendering our will and relinquishing the illusion of control feels unsettling, yet when it comes to actualizing true peace that is exactly the way.

Trusting in Christ, the Prince of Peace, implies letting go of self-reliance, turning the reins of ones life over, and forgoing alternative paths for "the way". He calls us to quiet trying to construct roads to Him and to travel the one His Son paved. He calls us to lay our anxious thoughts aside and rest in Him. In a frenzied world addicted to sufficiency, He prescribes a surrender that leads to peace.

"Therefore, since we have been made right in God's sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us." Romans 5:1

"I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him." Romans 15:13a

"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you." Isaiah 26:3

Diversified Unity // Micah

For many, the terms “Unity" and “Diversity" are antonyms, opposing concepts that do not co-exist. The thought of functioning in “unity with others" implies becoming clones, while “diversity" equals chaotic disorder. You are either united and therefore undiversified or diverse and not unified, or so the logic goes.

The Bible provides a picture of a third way, bonded uniqueness being walked out in progress oriented harmony. When unique individual giftings and diverse perspectives are harnessed in fully aligned pursuit of a crystallized objective a synergy results, which ushers in a powerful momentum. Being a part of this type of movement is awe-inspiring and produces a feeling much like the one felt when all players on a field “click" and pull off a dramatic final drive come back. Several components are essential for this to occur: dedication to a common objective, harmony around essentials, accountability to clearly defined roles, and humility in collaboration.

This is what God meant for His people in pursuit of His global rescue mission. A powerful reality emerges when the people of God come together around the mission of Christ for the glory of God. The collective ingenuity and combined effort produces results otherwise unattainable, while the diverse collaboration inside the body of Christ displays a broader welcome to those outside the family. With all our differences may we be a people that comes together for the Kingdom's Advancement.

“For just as in ONE body we have many members, and not all the members serve the same function, so we who are many are ONE body in Christ, and individually we are members who belong to ONE another. And we have DIFFERENT gifts according to the grace given to us…" Romans 12:4-6a

“…I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be ONE, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me." John 17:20b-21

- Micah McElveen

Ashamed of the Gospel // Micah

The very notion of embracing one's need for the gospel can cause one to blush. But why? There are many reasons, but four common thought groups include: The "good group" who say, "Me and my tribe are basically good and have done nothing that requires pardon". Then there is the "karma group," which professes, "We fail but can right our wrongs by our own good works". The "party group" proclaims, "We love our sin and shun the thought of turning from it to Christ". Lastly, the "inclusive group" declares, "It is narrow-minded and offensive to say there is 'one way' for man to be made right with God".

For all, affiliating with the gospel can feel like an admission of weakness and alignment with shame. Pre-conversion, Paul was an adamant member of several of the mentioned tribes, but post-conversion he was so enamored with Jesus, so caught up in the wonder of the cross and so undone by the power of the resurrection that he did not care what haters had to say. Along with others he participated in unabashed apologetics proclaiming sole allegiance to the gospel...
 

Romans 1:16a "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes..." -Apostle Paul

Acts 4:12 "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name [than Jesus] under heaven given among people by which we must be saved." -Apostle Peter

John 14:6 "Jesus replied, I am The Way, The Truth, The Life, no man comes to the Father except by Me." -Jesus, God In The Flesh

- Micah McElveen

Loyal Love // Micah

Loyal in Hebrew (kheh-sed) speaks to one who is “faithful and unswerving in allegiance.” In Psalms 145:8, God identifies Himself as one who “...is patient and demonstrates great LOYAL love.” To become a child of God through the grace of Jesus Christ is to be adopted as a Son or Daughter of God. To become recipients of reliable, constant and steadfast love. No matter what tosses us to and fro, nothing can deter God’s constant loyal love. He is the anchor for both the boat on the placid lake and the skiff on stormy sea. -Musings

“And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow--not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love.” Romans 8:38 

- Micah McElveen