Green like Grass
**Disclaimer to my fellow LITles: The following is a talk that was originally written to encourage women in my Bible study. This post is not at all intended to school you on what you should or shouldn't have gleaned from our once-in-a-lifetime, profound time under Beth's teaching. I know the LORD reached each of us individually with what we needed to hear.**
Last weekend, a friend and I headed off to a 1-day conference in Houston entitled LIT. The LIT conference was sort of an extension of Beth Moore’s Entrusted study. Entrusted took readers deep into 2 Timothy, urging us to be more effective with that which we've been “entrusted”: (a) the message of His redeeming love, lasting peace, and abundant grace, and (b) the gifting with which to share this message.
It’s clear in Scripture that we are not all called to be evangelists, teachers, or pastors, but we are absolutely each uniquely gifted to share His love, grace and mercy in some way shape or form.
There was so much to take away from the 12 short hours spent with Beth Moore, Priscilla Shirer, Christy Knockels and other strong, brilliant and faithful women. My head and heart are still reeling. However, as my local Bible study group was about to start Priscilla Shirer’s study Armor of God, I felt compelled to share about my experience in hopes of encouraging the women. Afterwards, my fellow LIT atendee encouraged me to post about the session, saying it was helpful for her own processing of the weekend in Houston. So, I will share with you what I shared with them (without the nervous vibrato and terrible fluorescent lighting).
The first thing I encouraged them with was to avoid approaching Armor of God as a spiritual checklist to guarantee results. When I stepped off the plane in Houston and into the conference room, I had a underlying hope that a series of practical steps to effective expression of my gifting would be laid out. And It was, in one simple step: seek Him alone. Beth Moore drove home the point that the foundation of our heart must be built up in prayer and time studying His Word. She wisely supported this truth with what she called the “Theology of Secrecy,” which is simply this: Secrets Manifest. That which is sown in secret will manifest itself, both good and bad.
Jesus teaches us this in Matthew 6:1-7, 17 & 18. In this portion of Scripture, He teaches about giving to the needy. We may automatically think of giving to the financially poor with our financial resources, but I would argue that it also applies to giving to the poor in spirit with our time, talents and gifting.
In Matthew 6:6, Jesus says, “But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” He teaches the same sentiment throughout Mathew 6, time and time again reiterating that what you sow in secret will be made known publicly. In Luke 8:17, Jesus says, “For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light.” Beth used these scriptures to impart upon us that what happens in secret drives all else; what happens, or doesn’t happen, between you and your Father is promised to manifest in due time.
Over and over again, I heard such a clear message stating that if we have any hope to exercise our gifts in any sort of effective way, we must, must, must (yes, three “musts” because it is that important) be spending time, meaningful time, in prayer and in His Word. It is from that time and the resulting intimate relationship with Him that He can then supernaturally empower us to be effective.
In preparation for my talk, I wanted to be amongst some sort of nature in order for my head and vision to be cleared of the clutter of my every day life. I live in a typically dry land, a land that has been plagued by a terrible drought for the last 5 years. Over the last couple months the heavens have opened and showered us with more water than we know what to do with. With water comes this wonderful color we don’t often get around here: green.
As I drove just outside of town, I was bombarded with a brilliant green covering the landscape that usually is blanketed in various shades of brown. As I visually soaked in the green, I got to thinking about that grass. It didn’t have to post a sign to tell me the rain had come. There was no “Five Points to XYZ” in order to effectively announce the good news of the rains. The green grass just naturally, effortlessly testified of the rains. The grass and foliage soaked up and allowed the rain to feed their dry and thirsty plant cells. And if you know anything about photosynthesis, you know that the green pigment is vital in the process that produces oxygen for us to breathe.
I want to be that grass. I want to soak Him up in such a way that my life naturally testifies of the Living Water’s presence in my heart. That His grace, peace and love would just exude from me naturally, bringing oxygen to those around me.
Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying it’s not important to serve. And neither was Beth. What I am saying is that if we are not cultivating our relationship with Him actively, if we are not sacrificially seeking deeper knowledge of Him and His heart for this world, if we are not doing those things, then in our well-intended serving we are serving up ourselves instead of serving up Him.
Now, as a mom raising 3 little humans, a huge red flag went up in my brain: with all the hats I wear on a daily basis, how in the world am I to make more time for prayer and study. This question didn’t linger very long. Thanks to Bonnie Gray and her Facebook Live video she happened to host the day after LIT, I was reminded of James and John, Jesus’ disciples He called while they were elbow deep in their day jobs as hard working fisherman. Just as they had to leave their nets to follow Him, if we want deep lasting, communion with Him, the kind from which naturally overflows into effective expression of our gifting we need to take inventory and ask, "What nets can we leave behind?" I’m not suggesting you quit your day job, but I do challenge you (and myself) to ask Him to reveal any nets that need to be left behind in order to make time with Him. As Miss Beth said, “Not only can intimacy with Jesus be the last thing to go, it must not go. There is no shortcut to long term effectiveness.” There is no checklist of teachers to be under, of studies to do, or of thresholds to cross. It’s simply intimacy with Him.
On the subject of lists, my husband and I were talking about the concept of religious lists and he said, “Us humans like to know how to win.” And it’s true. We like the comfort of a list, of knowing the formula to winning. The thing is, we have already won. When you entered into a relationship with Jesus by trusting Him with your heart, when He revealed to you His salvation, you, at that moment, received the ultimate prize—access to His love, to His promises, and to every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Everything is yours in Him.
So press into Him. Press into His promises so that you may take the spiritual ground He has for you and only you. Just as Beth indicated, no one else can take your ground, but you can’t either if you don’t make the time and effort to cultivate your honest to goodness one-on-one relationship with Him. We never arrive at knowing enough about Him, no matter how long we walk with Him. Keep cultivating.
As we were about to dive into what is sure to be a powerful, life giving study, I reiterated to those precious women to not get caught up in pursuing complete homework more than they get caught up in pursuing Him. Not to love expressing their gifts more than they love Him. To ask Him to reveal any nets that need to be laid aside. Ask Him to reveal new truths about Himself each time they sit down to study. To be rooted and built up in Him so that our lives may be like that green grass, testifying of the Living Water raining down by its very existence.
What about you? Do you feel like you have any nets that need to be laid aside? I'd love to hear your response in the comments.