Expect God to Act

When you do your best, expect God to act in big ways.

Sorry we couldn’t meet. I thought post-Easter week would be super down, and we were just slammed. I don’t know what we were all thinking.

The week after Easter is by all accounts, down. When I showed up to service on Saturday evening at North Coast Church, it was sparse just minutes before start time. But then it happened, almost like it does every other week: people showed up. They showed up before service, during the first song, and the place was practically full by the end of the initial worship set. Sure, there were less chairs set up, but the fact remains: people showed up.

People show up because God shows up … constantly. 

The problem is that church leaders are consumed with the Easter bump because of the post-Easter slump. But what do you do when you do your best, present a faithfully-true Gospel message on Easter, and God flings wide the doors of salvation?

What is faith to you?

Faith is defined as the expectation of God to act. We can do our best at everything, for every service, and nothing happens. Yet there will be times when it’s dialed down and people respond in droves. At the end of the day, happy or sad, were you faithful to your ministry and to the one fulfilling it?

When you do, He does.

God does not need you, but He wants you. And He wants you to be faithful in the highs and lows, so when He blows your mind, you’re there.

I have so many friends who are burnt out by Easter, but I have so many more who are tired from their work and the work the Spirit did with people responding. Sure, some vacations were completely hosed, but it’s worth it, right? You better believe it; it’s why we all do what we do. We drag our tails out of bed dog-tired, so that we can show up and watch as God shows up in big ways.

That’s proper expectations, and that right there is faith; real faith.

May it bring you some encouragement this week, and may God do what He does best in you and your church this weekend: show up. May you be faithful, may people hear and respond to the Gospel, and may you wait with bated breath each and every day, expecting God to act.