
Normally, I wouldn’t write a long blog post pitching a book. However, when a book literally changes my life, it’s time to write a post.
Yesterday, I wrapped up my 2011 reading list with Sun Stand Still by Steven Furtick. Furtick is the 31 year old pastor of Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC. Furtick’s tremendous faith, commitment to vision and sensitivity to God’s voice has helped grow this church to 9,000 members. For five consecutive years, Outreach Magazine has called it one of America’s fastest growing churches.
So, how did this book change my life? Let me just share one of the opening sentences:
If the size of your vision for your life isn’t intimidating to you, there’s a good chance it’s insulting to God.
Yikes.
And it doesn’t stop there. He has in his cross hairs the boring, lackluster, faith-less lives most of us live. The story traces the idea of Joshua’s prayer in Joshua 10:12, when he literally spoke to God and commanded the sun to stand still. This level of faith and audacity is simply not evident today. In fact to many of us it’s uncomfortable, or even insulting and irreverent to imagine this type of faith.
But, as Furtick writes:
Of course, every believer in Jesus has a measure of faith—it’s the prerequisite to salvation. But after that, if we’re honest, we think of faith primarily in terms of a spiritual thought or a comfortable feeling.We hope it’s enough to get us to heaven when we die. But in the meantime, it’s barely enough to keep us praying, giving, and going to the eleven o’clock service. Let me ask you: does the brand of faith you live by produce the kinds of results in your life that you read about in the biblical stories of men and women of faith?…The chasm we see between our mundane spiritual experiences and the overcoming faith we read about in the accounts of biblical heroes is downright discouraging.
Refreshingly, his cry for greater faith doesn’t trend toward selfish, indulgent ambition. However, he is not shy about trusting God for the promises that he, as Author of Creation, could only bring about. Furtick himself is a testament to this, as his commitment to faith has allowed for a life that completely defies his age or experience.
This book began reconditioning me to actually believe that God is in my corner and desires to use me for great things. Some of my big takeaways?
- The pursuit of holiness can easily become the pursuit of safety. Sure, it’s good to relentlessly kill idols in your life. But the moment your afraid to step out, is the moment you don’t understand God as father and we, his children. To ignore your big dreams and visions for fear of being selfish, can mean ignoring an open door from the Lord. It’s not bad to desire to be used for great things in your generation. Audacity can be Holy.
- Stop qualifying your prayers and dreams so the religious people in your small-group won’t attack you for being selfish. Complacency balks at audacity. Often, when your prayers and dreams are so big that they feel preposterous, you’re getting close.
Let me leave you with Furtick’s overview of Sun-Stand-Still type faith!
Activating Faith: This is all about rejecting passivity and fear. Look at the stories of faith in the Bible, is there any doubt that God is calling us to audacious living? Why do we have these examples?!
Approach God with Boldness: Come with confidence, calling on God based on his proven faithfulness to men like Joshua. Do you realize God’s desire is for faith-filled living? In fact Scripture says, “without faith, you cannot please God” and newsflash…this isn’t referring to faith for salvation.
Ask for what seems Impossible: If we have the audacity to ask, God has the ability to perform. Believe God for things that are too big for you to accomplish alone. And stop with the, “if it’s your will” speak. For most of us, this is a mental “out” that we give ourselves to lessen the blow if God doesn’t come through. Instead, believe that God is at work on your behalf. And trust him to answer, whether it’s yes, no or later.
Advance toward the Answer: Furtick calls this “push while you pray”. Audacious faith doesn’t throw up prayers and hope God answers. It means you are willing to become the answer to your prayer. Joshua commanded the sun to stand still, but notice how he marched through the night to be in position to defeat his enemies? Make moves.
Give God Glory: God loves the glory that comes from the success of audacious acts of faith. In fact, the more audacious, the more the glory he can receive. The stories can be ours to tell, the story itself is always about Jesus.
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this post can be originally see on Charlie’s blog Do Life Big.
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