This week Sara Cosgrove shares on the power of the shared experience.
Summary Notes
Shared experiences can be so powerful. Not only do they give us courage, affirmation and the impetus to keep going. There is often a knock-on effect for the greater good. For example, in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit came upon the followers of Jesus (the shared experience) many people looking on were shocked and amazed, and 3000 people were added to the church that day (the knock-on effect!).
It’s tempting to think that the miraculous presence of God has been lost or diminished in recent years, but God promises in Joel 2:25 to “restore the years that the locusts have eaten”. When we are dissatisfied, we have a choice. We can turn that dissatisfaction into hunger and a resolve to contribute to bringing about change. Or we can complain and seek to find what we lack by withdrawing from the shared places and getting what we need for ourselves. The prophet Habakkuk in his dissatisfaction petitioned God to “help us again as you did in years gone by” (Habakkuk 2:2).
Ultimately, he turns his complaint into a prayer, concluding that, even if things don’t seem to be going well:
“The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
(Habakkuk 3:19)
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights.
Habakkuk didn’t get all that he desired; he didn’t see it all. But he knew it was coming and it gave him the confidence to keep going. We may not see it all now, but there is power in our shared experience and there’s more to come.
Let’s keep going, let’s keep Following Jesus Together. There’s a move of God coming. Let’s not miss it, let’s anticipate it, let’s ask for it, let’s be part of making it happen – together!
Recording
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