Rules of Engagement

My 10 year-old son, Zane, was sitting in church with me. Our pastor was starting a series called “Rules of Engagement.” Zane was drawing so I tapped him on the back to get his attention. When he looked up, I told him to pay attention. He looked at me and said, “but I’m not engaged.”

Marriage is not what I am talking about when I say Get Engaged. Think police in hot pursuit of a criminal or a hunter patiently scouting out a wild turkey.

God is very interested in the details of your day. Your life consists of a series of moments, each of which has the potential to be used by God to fulfill his purposes.

To be engaged is to position yourself to recognize and seize these God-given opportunities to join him.

Let me suggest to you three keys that will help you stay engaged:

1. Learn where to look for these moments. Don’t look for them to light up the sky like fireworks. Instead,  look for them in the ordinary circumstances of your day. Elijah thought God was in the earthquake and the strong wind. Instead, God revealed himself in a whisper (1 Kings 19:11-13).

2. Choose to join these moments. Will you join or ignore the moments God gives you? In 1 Samuel 14 Saul chose to stay under a pomegranate tree waiting on the battle to come to him. Jonathan, on the other hand, chose to cross over to the Philistine garrison. Either you make the choice or the choice will be made for you.

3. Step into the moment. Try as you may, you cannot follow God in neutral. These moments look so ordinary from the sideline. Only when you step into them do they become extraordinary. God clarifies in the midst of obedience, not beforehand. It is fair to say that God informs us on a need-to-know basis.

Stay engaged and the extraordinary will become an ordinary part of your life. Don’t waste your life under a pomegranate tree!