Are we really ready for this?

So recently I’ve been doing alot of writing/teaching/studying/praying about standing in the gap for our generation, standing firm in the truth and living a life with a purpose that transcends life and death, to live for our God like never before. The more time I spend on it, the more it’s incredibly humbling and even scary. It’s easy to shout the battle cry, to talk with friends about wanting more, to pray for God to use you mightily, to post Facebook posts, to post a blog post like I am now; but in recent days I find myself asking the question over and over…

Just what does the life of a man or woman of God look like, that would love the Lord with all they are, that would stand in the gap, that would stand firm no matter the cost… who it could be said of that they “turned the world upside down”?

And the closer I get to grasping that answer (not that I am, at all, close!), the more humbling the experience is, the more I realize just how much I need my Savior, my God… and just how far I have to grow, how many things I need to learn. It’s a process, a search, that sometimes is overwhelming and scary, but more often than not, it is exhilarating and exciting and fuels a fire and a hunger to be closer to my Lord.

I wonder… are we, am I, willing to press forward for Christ no matter what? Because we have to realize that as we learn more about our faith, as we grow more in our walk, as the Lord grants us those fiery prayers, we are going to see more and more just how far we have to go, just how much in need of Him we are and just how much death to self is still required.

Are we ready to make a change in our lives so profound that it changes our entire being? (Or perhaps it simply purifies our being?) Are we willing to really truly, “Surrender All”, to lift up our hands and really mean the words “take me, fill me, mold me”?

I think upon my life, upon my mistakes, the words I wish I could take back, the selfish or foolish acts I wish I could undo, the lost opportunities for sharing my faith or to spend more time in the word of God… and I realize just how far I have to go, I realize just how much diligence and sacrifice and pursuit of God this will take. And I realize it can be a bit terrifying! Now, don’t get me wrong, it’s also incredibly exciting and it’s an adventure and a challenge, both of which I relish almost as much as I desire to be closer to my Lord!

I don’t claim to know the answer to the question above; I don’t claim to know what the life of a man or woman of God looks like in this generation. I have some ideas and the fog that obscures that view is slowly lifting, but I know there is so much more to learn. What I do claim to know, is that it will take work and time and diligence. It will take commitment and obedience. It will take a cultivated passion, not just a passion we wait on. It will require fleeing from sin, not just avoidance thereof. It will take waiting on God, even when we want to be running forward… and a passion that won’t let go. It will take standing when standing seems impossible. It will also take a humble heart and a contrite spirit. It will take much death to self. It will take so many more things that I have simply neglected to mention for lack of time and still others I have neglected for lack of knowledge.

This post is less about a battle cry, less about what we should be doing, less about some grand idea or concept and more about coming full circle and looking at what it is that we are saying we want… asking the question of “are we really ready for this?” and “do we really know what we are asking for?”…. and ultimately perhaps it is a challenge to taking that stride forward from passionate words, to passionate action, to passionate living.

Lord, I pray that you give me the peace to wait on You, but also the fire to pursue You with all I am. Make me the man of God You would have me be, in spite of me. This prayer, this plea, this cry… I ask that you grant.