“Without oxen a stable stays clean, but you need a strong ox for a large harvest.” (Proverbs 14:4 NLT)
I have a dear friend who routinely pulls me close and whispers Holy Spirit truth into my ear. In the month before we moved, she gave me this scripture. I had shared about the increased spiritual temperature of the church we had interviewed with. My wise friend assured me: “Spirit movement is mess, Anna, but it’s powerful.”
Our entire transition to Brenham has been a bit messy, but now that we are finally here, it’s becoming more and more obvious why God has brought us to this place. There’s something happening here; the stalls are used in ways we’ve never seen and it’s authentic and life-giving and powerful and freeing.
“After this prayer, the meeting place shook and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.” (Acts 4:31 NLT)
I’ve never lived through more than a 4.2 earthquake, but I’d imagine a much stronger earth shaking would make quite a mess. The Holy Spirit does this; He shakes us out of our routines and comfort zones, He jars us from the places we’ve gotten stuck. He fills willing, surrendered vessels with power to speak, heal, perceive and preach.
All this power might look a little messy: have you ever pictured Pentecost? Imagine with me, what a hundred and twenty souls speaking, preaching in different languages in the same small room might look like. Imagine that mob of raw Holy Spirit power moving into the streets of Jerusalem and the heavenly chaos of another three thousand surrendering their lives to a risen Savior. It’s a divine riot, isn’t it?
Yes, the Holy Spirit makes a mess of the traditions and routines and strongholds of the church and its occupants. But it’s the best kind of mess because He shakes us up and at the very same time He infuses the body of Christ with the power we desperately need to move forward in mission.
Lord, mess up our stalls. Fill up our ordinary plans and protocols with Your dynamic, catalytic power. Shake up our lives for Your glory’s sake. We have a huge assignment that will remain incomplete apart from Your Holy Spirit equipping. Fill us up and send us out. Amen.