CRAZY FAITH by Gary Wilkerson
Do you sense that God is about to unleash something tremendous in your life? Perhaps He has spoken to your heart, “I have prepared something special for you. Soon you will enter a walk with Me you’ve never known before.” Maybe your life has already been greatly blessed by God. Now the Holy Spirit is saying His longstanding promise is about to come to full fruition—and it will amaze you. If this describes your life right now, I can tell you with the authority of Scripture: Get ready to examine your heart.
This next part is what I call experiencing “crazy faith.” Crazy faith is believing that no matter how good things are, the best is yet to come. It’s a faith that says, “As much as we dream and do big things for God’s kingdom, His vision is always greater.” What the Lord has done in the brief existence of the church I pastor has exceeded my wildest expectations. Not a week goes by without someone giving his or her life to Jesus. Whenever we distribute food to the poor, many of the recipients ask, “Why are you doing this?” We answer, “It’s Jesus,” and they give their lives to Him.
It is all happening miraculously. In three years our church has grown from three couples to nearly 1,500 people on Sundays. New believers are quickly maturing into faithful disciples, growing in their knowledge of God.
God is not just exceeding our expectations, He is showing us what His expectations are, and it is amazing to see. There are still a quarter of a million people in our area alone who do not know Christ, and last year the Lord stirred us to plant two new churches.
Here is the craziest part of all: I believe greater things are yet to come. I’m convinced that God will reveal Himself even more powerfully—not just in salvations but in outreach, in help to the poor, in impact on the city.
Sounds incredible, doesn’t it? Of course it does. But now comes the hard part. It is exactly at this point that God asks His people to examine their hearts.
We are aware that our righteousness is as filthy rags, that we need His grace. But the fact is, just when we are poised on the brink of God’s greatest work in our lives, He asks us to reflect on these questions: “Is there anything in my heart that is displeasing to the Lord? Have I neglected to do something He has asked of me?” I want nothing in my life to hinder what God wants to do!
This next part is what I call experiencing “crazy faith.” Crazy faith is believing that no matter how good things are, the best is yet to come. It’s a faith that says, “As much as we dream and do big things for God’s kingdom, His vision is always greater.” What the Lord has done in the brief existence of the church I pastor has exceeded my wildest expectations. Not a week goes by without someone giving his or her life to Jesus. Whenever we distribute food to the poor, many of the recipients ask, “Why are you doing this?” We answer, “It’s Jesus,” and they give their lives to Him.
It is all happening miraculously. In three years our church has grown from three couples to nearly 1,500 people on Sundays. New believers are quickly maturing into faithful disciples, growing in their knowledge of God.
God is not just exceeding our expectations, He is showing us what His expectations are, and it is amazing to see. There are still a quarter of a million people in our area alone who do not know Christ, and last year the Lord stirred us to plant two new churches.
Here is the craziest part of all: I believe greater things are yet to come. I’m convinced that God will reveal Himself even more powerfully—not just in salvations but in outreach, in help to the poor, in impact on the city.
Sounds incredible, doesn’t it? Of course it does. But now comes the hard part. It is exactly at this point that God asks His people to examine their hearts.
We are aware that our righteousness is as filthy rags, that we need His grace. But the fact is, just when we are poised on the brink of God’s greatest work in our lives, He asks us to reflect on these questions: “Is there anything in my heart that is displeasing to the Lord? Have I neglected to do something He has asked of me?” I want nothing in my life to hinder what God wants to do!