On Saturday I attended the Barnsley Garden Party in the town centre and marvelled at the strength and creativity of Autin Dance Theatre as they shimmied up scaffolding that was 30 feet high and performed great athletic feats, hanging, swinging, and moving with grace and skill. Their physical strength was impressive, their stamina great as they performed for 45 minutes in scorching temperatures.
I admire physical strength and realise that this is built up through practice, determination and a lot of hard work.
God, however, works in ways that often seem counter-intuitive to what we see in the natural world. We often feel we must work hard, plan hard and organise well in order to know God’s blessing, and there’s nothing wrong with those things. Zechariah said, however, that it’s ‘not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit’ in God’s kingdom. (Zech 4:6)
God moves by His Spirit in ways that seem ridiculous to us – how could a bunch of people speaking foreign languages and appearing drunk be the start of the church!?! (Acts 2) How can the move of God as wind and fire really change the world? Yet Pentecost shows us that when God moves, great things happen, things beyond our wildest dreams, things beyond our planning and programmes. (Eph 3:20)
We need the Holy Spirit to breathe on us, to inspire us, to work through us. Crazy times require crazy people – people filled with the Spirit of God who dare to believe God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine