Going Back to Advance

[Rodney Drury]

I have found time and time again, that the Lord leads me forward by taking me back. This “back” is usually to a forgotten word or direction; sometimes it is to a habit or tradition that was lost. In my never ending quest to advance, I tend to leave behind a great many things God still desires that I hold onto and practice. Over the last two decades I have read more old books and found that much of what we call “new” has already been done, often in the very same way we are now doing it. Yet we say it is new and sometimes we say we are the first to do it. Ooooops. We forget.
One thing that I feel God wants to re-ignite in me and maybe in our region is the “Lighthouse Movement”. There is a simple beauty in praying and encouraging other people to pray for their neighbors. Yet the simple things are often the hardest to keep faithfully doing. Enduring, persistent, longsuffering and faithful are not as exciting to us as “new, improved, revolutionary, cutting edge and relevant”. Do we now live in a world in which information must be in the last hour to be of value? Is it now that case that, “If it didn’t happen in the last hour or if it was not posted in today’s post”, then it isn’t important anymore? What if we treat God the same way? What if His message to us last year is just old news to us and what we want is a “now word” so that we can move ahead.
Advancing in the Lord? Try this….
1. Seek to live out what you do know as you seek God for what you don’t.
2. Honor your father and mother, not just the good father or mother, but all fathers and mothers. I relate this to spiritual moms and dads too.
3. Spend time reviewing all that the Lord has done for you. Remember your history with God. Give thanks for His goodness over years, not just this week.
4. Go back and see if you are doing what God has previously asked you to do. It could be that you have dropped off the pathway of His direction and are trying to make progress on your own path.

Rodney Drury
PeoriaPrayerCenter.org
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