Last night, we sat like we always do...

Last night, we sat like we always do behind the ballroom and went over a list about how the night was supposed to look. Stephen Sapp was speaking, so he shared some things he was going to touch on. All of a sudden, the room came to a complete stop- like the way Zach Morris used to say, “Timeout” and everything would pause. Well, instead of Zach saying stop, God did. This happened when Sapp leaned in and said, “You cannot take a day off from God.”
I have taken short cuts in every form and fashion of my life- whether with school, work, family, or just in LIFE. For once, I have realized that I have taken a short cut on God. I guess I kind-of bought into the lie that told me I didn’t have to put in as much as I wanted to get out. See, the struggle I have is this: when people look at me, there is a certain expectation they hold for me; it has been this way my whole life. People think I have it all together and that I have found some secret balance to life. They take and they take, and they take some more. But it is my fault; I have led a life like the “Yeast of the Pharisees”- In Matthew 16, the Bible says to, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees”. In this text, God pointed out how yeast puffs things up. By nature, yeast draws in air and when it heats, the air expands. Well, being "puffed up" is like being proud…full of air and no substance, like a Pharisee. Jews couldn't see the glory of God because they were blinded by the “glory” of the Pharisees.
I shared my struggle last night to a friend at IHOP, and crying like a baby, I told him that next week I was going to share about what a man of God should look like. Upon studying this, I have realized that I am not as close to God as I thought I was; my pride has fooled me once again. How can I share about being something, when I miss the mark on “that something” daily? After we had eaten and gone home, he text messaged me and it read something like this: “Break the façade and fallacy of the man who has it all together so that they can see the God that does.” Today, he shared with me the passage in Matthew 16.
I say all this to fill you all in (or at least those of you who will actually stick to reading this to the end) of a few things. Just because we are in ministry and look like we have things under control does not mean that we do…because we don’t! The fact that people assume this however, allows us to hide in the image that they see. The problem with this arises when one day God says, “You can not take a day off from ME!” Don’t get me wrong, my whole life has not been a lie. I am just saying that I have distorted the glory that God has in store for you, as children of God; for that, I sit here in sorrow staring at a screen.
For the people like Simeon Rodgers, I am forever indebted to you. To be able to open your heart in a way that allows God to infiltrate and speak to someone like me, who is drowning in the wreckage of life, is a wonderful gift. You paint the picture of what a man of God truly looks like…Thank you. For the rest of you out there, next week I promise to get out of the way and let God have the stage. I pray that you will prepare your heart for the message HE has in store for each and every one of you. I believe in his Truth, and it is because of him that I am able to have an awakening like I had today. Till next time…

From me to you,
Christopher Reynolds