Are we kidding ourselves in our ministry programmes?
… day after day they seek me out; they seem eager to know my ways, .. They … seem eager for God to come near them.
Isaiah 58v1-2
There are many who are eager to follow Jesus.
Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and you have not seen it?
Isaiah 58v3
Isaiah’s contemporaries fasted. We have worship services or ministry outreach. For both there is frustration at lack of success.
“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please and exploit all your workers.”
Isaiah 58v4
We too, do as we please. Ministry is not the overflow of sitting with God but copying success. These plans need people whom we use rather than love. It seems the Lord is not impressed.
Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife.
Isaiah 58v4
When plans are the focus we argue over resources and who has the best plan.
You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high.
Isaiah 58v4
In Isaiah’s day ministry was not bringing them into the presence of God. In our day few are ready to sit and wait on God till he shows the way.
This last year the Lord has pulled me from leadership. I have sat with him and gained perspective on his values. It has been salutary to see the expressions of pity on my friends as if this place of sitting with God is a consolation prize. That sense of pity exposes a deep malaise.
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Photo by Steve Johnson on Unsplash