The Ongoing Activity of God
I have come to understand resurrection living is an on-going activity in which the Holy Spirit reclaims the wounds, failures, sorrows, missteps and abandonments transforming them into a source of God’s intended creative purpose in us, being Christ-like.
The Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California contains more than one-hundred rooms of confusing construction. Stairs wind up to the celling, doors upon door opening to nothing or more doors, windows opening to walls or other windows. Chaos indeed.
It gradually dawned on me He expected to occupy every area of that which Christ paid such a high price: the household of me and my life. No matter how long it was going to take or how much I would protest, He was going to rearrange every room, hidden closed and dark corner I declared as my own.
What the Holy Spirit wanted from me in this renovation was a teachable heart. And THAT spirit was not going to be easy for me to surrender.
A taped message by Millard Baux was an epiphany for me. The insight became the lodestar of the Holy Spirit’s movement in my and the life of so many.
Millard stood before 600 people during a Wednesday night prayer meeting at his church in Houston, Texas and proclaimed, “I would rather be on the top of a sand dune in the middle of God’s will than pastor the largest church in Texas.”
Through a series of hilarious God-ordered events, 160 days later he was pastoring a church in Yuma, Arizona.
After some time griping and grumbling before the Lord, He shares the following conversation with Him.
“Millard, do you know why you’re here?”
“No Lord, I have no idea.”
“I want you to drive out to the middle of the desert.”
According to Millard, he drives around the desert for some time, wondering why he is out there. He finally finds two palm trees in the shape of a large V in the middle of nowhere. He sits under them because he does not know what else to do.
The Lord,” Millard can you explain how these palm trees exist in the middle of nowhere?”
Millard, “No Lord, I can’t.”
“Go home and find out about palm trees.”
Millard discovered palm trees have a deep taproot burrowing to a water source.
The Lord, “Now, Millard, do you understand why you’re here?”
“No, Lord.”
“Just like those palm trees which have deep roots into an unknown water source, I desire to be your Water Source. You are here to discover I am your life in inexplicable ways. I want to be inside of you and before others as your fount of spirituality and life.”*
The Power Of Resurrection Living. pps2-3