Sit, Run, Stand
This morning was amazing at church. I have been attending a new gospel church. I am the only white girl and I LOVE it! The room is filled with blacks, Latinos, old ladies, kids, and single parents. We are all so different, yet we have one thing in common-Jesus. I have been drawn to this church for the last three weeks because I sense the people there are alive. When people are alive you know they are expectant. You are only expectant if you have encountered Jesus. Each person actually engages and participates in the service. I hear “amen”, “preach it”, “you go” one woman shouted when the pastor was on a roll and “that’s right” when there is a truth about God preached. LOVE IT! There is nothing fancy or programmatic about this church at all. We meet in a vet’s hall and have to put our chair away when we leave. There is something raw and fresh about it.
Anyhow, today as the preacher was going off about different prophecies and fulfillments of the Messiah, the Lord was speaking to me, on the side, about my personal posture or position before him. I scribbled down three words-SIT, RUN, STAND.
I didn’t really know why those words came to me. Yet, as the service went on I kept writing other things down. So I wanted to share some of the thoughts I had and hope this is encourages someone.
SIT- sitting before the Lord is an important practice because it implies that you are not going anywhere and are ready to converse. In the sitting position one can listen for direction in life. It is in this place of waiting where we are able to gaze or fix our eyes on Jesus. Sitting gives us rest for the mobility needed in the future. If we do not sit, rest, wait and listen the next two I will share about will be a LOT harder.
RUN- going from a rested and rejuvenated place of sitting we are now ready to set coarse. This coarse is set in the place of sitting. RUNNING and trying figure out the coarse is not the best idea. You can do it that way, but if you know the coarse you can run a lot harder toward the goal. There is always a point during a run that you have to persevere. That is when what was revealed to you in the time of sitting kicks in. So often we run haphazardly because we are trying to run as fast as we can and listen for direction at the same time. This can work from time to time, but why add more anxiety then needed.
STAND- there’s times during our journey when we need to stand. We need to stand FIRM and we need to stand in the AUTHORITY given to us. Standing is always forward movement. Standing is a mindset. What you believe about God and what you believe about yourself in relation to what have been given is everything. Standing firm and standing in authority can be done in the either sitting or running position.
In the flow of a typical day we may encounter special moments within each posture. You need all three. I spent many years just running, many more sitting and others standing. What I’ve found is that the seasons when I am AWARE of all three, I see power. I see favor. And I see transformation at whole new levels.
SIT, RUN, STAND three simple, yet revolutionary words.
