Naturally Supernatural

In the past few months I've become increasingly aware of my limitations. Perhaps humbled after 7 years of church planting that, at times, has left me feeling as though I was the one bringing a knife to a gun fight - that certainly has a way of lowering a person. In fact this general feeling of being truly incapable of doing anything great for God has the 'second guesser' in me going crazy.

But through these last few months God has been speaking to me and moving me in a direction that I somehow knew I should always be going in.

I trace this personal evolution back to October when I took three days off and did a 20+ mile Appalachian Trail backpack trip. Three days alone with God will do wonders for you - but more than that, I began to realize that the Holy Spirit speaks to me (and us) far more often than I was ever aware.

That's when I decided I was going to listen more closely to the Holy Spirit.

While I'm increasingly aware of my limitations, I've become increasingly aware that God desires to intersect with the lives of people on this planet far more than we can imagine and it's for this reason that He has given us the power of the Holy Spirit. He desires for us to live a naturally supernatural life. A life where His saving, healing and delivering power flow through us to the lost and hurting around us - a supernatural lifestyle not limited to the four walls of a church service:

And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction...And proclaim as you go, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. Matthew 10:1,7-8.

I love those words, "as you go". What great words to end your next Sunday service with - calling believers in your congregation to go out and declare that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.

History records believers doing exactly what the verses above are describing - going all the way back to the Book of Acts. I've come to the conclusion that we (the Church) have been, for the most part, operating far below the level of power that Christ has given us to operate in. Seemingly the vast majority of the Church today is either paralyzed by simple doubt, unbelief, or man made doctrines that have marginalized or extinguished the supernatural.

Since my rendezvous with God last October, I've been trying to listen - and stand on what the Word of God says - and live a naturally supernatural life.

I've got great news to report - our God still heals the sick and He still does miracles. In the past three months I have seen more healing miracles than I've witnessed in the previous seven years.

I've seen arthritis, knee injuries, cysts and other painful conditions healed by God's power.

The most incredible miracle happened New Year's Eve as I was on my way home from the office and honestly not feeling particularly 'spiritual' that day. I thought I'd quickly stop by the nursing home near my home and visit a lady who used to attend our church. When I arrived in her room and greeted her, she introduced me to her roommate who was a kind and coherent elderly lady whose recent health crisis had brought her to this particular nursing home.

As I was getting ready to leave, the lady from our church asked if I would pray for her eye as she was experiencing some pain around it. After I prayed a short prayer asking for God to heal her eye pain, her roommate asked if I would pray for her as well. I asked what it was she wanted me to pray for she said: "I'm blind in my right eye and I can't see very good out of the other."
I laid my hand on her shoulder and began to pray for God to open her blind eye, I noticed that after a few moments she begin blinking her eyes. I stopped and asked her what was going on. She replied "It's getting better - I can see". I said "Let's keep praying!" I prayed for her two or three more times and each time I did she said her vision got clearer. I had her cover the eye she could see out of and she began to call out things that she could now see with her right eye that she told me she was blind in a moment before. It was an amazing moment. The first lady I prayed for declared that her eye pain was gone and immediately both of these ladies lifted their hands and began praising God out loud. It was a very touching seen.

Leaving that facility I was amazed yet again at how God's power can flow out of us so naturally if we will just step out in faith, stand on what His Word says and simply believe. My reoccurring thought lately is that if we don't have faith to see the Holy Spirit move supernaturally - how in the world do we have faith for the rest of the Christian life then?

If we will provide the natural, God will provide the 'Super'.