For a year my church has prayed that God would double our numbers in attendance today. This has been a major prayer focus and we have heavily promoted it. We have encouraged people to invite others, to come and pray for our mission and ministry as they walked the church parking lot which circles our buildings. We have written articles, made banners, sold tee shirts, printed prayer rocks. In fact it has been my constant companion and prayer focus: God if you are blessing the ministry and effort at Benton First, send the people.
My life has been warp speeding lately. I have had a retreat weekend, a final class and paper, a final class and speech, two major meetings and a graduation. Next week there is a wedding. The schedule has been maddening but it has been very good for keeping me busy and distracted. I am much better off full throttle than sitting with a lot of time on my hands. All that thought time produces much too much thinking, absolutely never a good thing for me. However Pray 438 has never ever ever been far from my thinking.
My prayer focus, have I been following God's leading or my own great ideas? Would God send the numbers, had we stepped out in faith or tried to get God to do what we wanted? I really didn't have too much peace one way or another, kept thinking we had been faithful only to think of course I would think that! I was definitely what James would call tossed by every wave. This is God. Is this God? This is God. Is this God? Good Grief.
I have had company all weeked so today I got to the church early just thankful the day was here. There is always lots of housekeeping work to be done, decorations finished, cleaning up accomplished, pictures taken, stuff in it's proper place. This is great for burning energy and I kept myself as busy as I could. Before it seems possible, the people begin arriving. I am praying and wondering and thanking God for each head. Then the chairs begin to fill up and we start pulling more and more of them. I am standing at the back and thanking God for each chair we pull. Finally worship begins and we start counting people. By the end of the head count we are sitting at 302. Yipee!
Second service begins and there is a good crowd. How good I do not know but I am beginning to feel optomistic. I am delighted about the people who have come! There are so many of them and I am so thankful. The head usher and I both count and compare numbers, 184. One hundred eighty four people. Holy cow. We have gotten to 486 people. I am so deeply grateful and touched I could cry. I am looking at faces I dont know, people I haven't seen in many years and I am blessed beyond measure. How good God is to his wishy washy daughter. Is this God? Yes, I believe we can say this was God.
The number was great and I am thankful for every last person. Tonight though I am mostly thankful for the God of the whole universe who though larger than my finite mind can ever comprehend was gracious enough to hear the prayers of a little church in a small town and say yes. Even a little church in a small town who has a silly program director whose faith is tossed by every wave.
Those touchdown dances are looking good from here.
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