Sun Stand Still

Jeremy and I got to church this morning and sat down about ten minutes before the service started. We were looking at the bulletin to see what Pastor Craig had in store for today. We saw that there would be a guest speaker , waaahh wahhhhhh. Now nothing against guest speakers, but we both hang on every word when Pastor Craig gives the sermon. We were a little bit disappointed, but still excited to hear what the message was for this week.

We were not let down....

Pastor Steven Furtick from North Carolina shared a message called "Sun Stand Still".  He's a young, excited and exciting pastor that started a church called Elevation Church in North Carolina. I want to pass on this message, and try to do it some justice. Ok. Sun Stand Still. The idea comes from a story in the book of Joshua in which Joshua is facing an entire army from Gilgal. The army is much stronger and larger than his own army. The Lord said to Joshua "Do not be afraid, I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you." Joshua fought the army throughout the day, but as the day was coming to a close he saw that there was a large battle still left ahead of him and if the night fell, he knew would not be able to complete the battle. With complete faith and abandon, this was Joshua's prayer,

"O sun, stand still over Gibeon, o moon, over the valley of Aijalon."

So the sun stood still and the moon stopped. THE SUN STOOD STILL, AND THE MOON STOPPED! The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. Joshua and his army finished and won the battle.

Now, I have read this story in Joshua more than once. It really didn't jump out at me the way it did for Pastor Steven. But it was a life changer for him and he explained why. I'm 99% sure that every person in the room (including me) bought what he was selling. Joshua had complete faith in Jesus, and asked for what he needed. He turned it all over and gave ALL control to God. That is pretty amazing faith. We ask for things in prayer all the time. "God, please be with ____ today." or "God, please help me ______." Or we send up blanket/generic prayers such as "God, please help me be a better person." These are all great things to aspire for or hope for others. It is comforting to know that God cares and answers even the most generic of prayers. But, what is the HUGE thing in your life that is so big that you don't even bring it to God? Sometimes I don't bring things to God because to me, it feels selfish. For instance, one thing that is really important to me is the baby issue. Another thing that is constantly on my heart is problems with family members. Not my problem with them, but their problems with each other. (I have a big ole family, so don't try to figure this one out, lol.) How about finances? A lot of people feel like if they’re in a situation because of something that they did, then why should God have to fix it? The whole “you made the bed, now lay in it” mentality takes over. Some people feel selfish in asking for God's guidance there. I know I do! How about this....do you want to live a life that magnifies God to others? In what way? Do you want to witness to people at work or at the gym? Have you asked for God's help there? Pastor Steven made a pretty profound statement...

If your intent for your life isn't intimidating to you, there's a good chance that it's insulting to God.

Here's what I personally took from the sermon. I'm working on trying to surrender control. I have tried to really take in the trust in God mentality. "If God wants me to have a baby, he'll make it happen." Well did I ever really ask? For crap sake, Joshua asked the sun to stand still - and it did! Now I don't think that if I just ask God for a baby then wham bam, I'm preggers. I do know that if something is such a HUGE issue in my life, why wouldn't I make it a God conversation?? More importantly, why would I ever dwell on ANYTHING and think that it's not really a God issue? Do I really think he doesn't know? God's not sitting around wondering what's bothering me. "If only she'd ask, I'd know how to help her...." Hahaha. He knows. Pastor Steven shared his Sun Stand Still moment. He had an alcoholic, non-believing father who didn't really know how to parent. His father's father had killed himself on his dad's 8th birthday. He had a rough, confusing life. Steven's prayer was for a serious change. He wanted his dad to know the love he knew. It happened when he asked. What need, goal, or objective seems impossible to you right now? How big is your perception of God? How do you think your limited perception of God has limited your faith?

If you’re in a position where you think that the only thing that can fix your problem is a miracle (usually laced with sarcasm when spoken aloud) – then you’re in God’s wheelhouse! He’s in the business of performing miracles! What’s your Sun Stand Still prayer?