I love all that is new – beginnings, first editions, babies, seasonal changes – almost as much as I like that is old – vintage, classic, routine, and familiar. I guess I think of a challenge as a marriage of opposites: ‘Fresh Avant Garde’ meets ‘Timeless Old-World’.
Every year I like to tackle a different challenge. In the past, some were quite random, while others were the logical next step – like putting my youngest through her final year of school. Some constituted a single event, yet left me overwhelmed and fragile. Others were major, all-consuming projects, like climbing Kilimanjaro in 2012. While it made deep inroads into my soul, it also left me light and whole.
How to make sense of all this? It seems that much of the joy of any project is locked up in the company we keep – fellow pilgrims who laugh, help, warm, mentor, confront, encourage, and comfort us along the way!
Sometimes they are childhood friends with kindred spirits; other times, they are strangers whose fleeting touches remind us of visiting angels.
Then there is the secret of breaking up any project into bite-size pieces. Small steps, tiny stitches, daily stops! And before you know it, you have climbed your mountain, crossed your bridge, fulfilled your promise.
The final secret to a successful challenge is obedience to God’s gentle, quiet whisper. When He nudges, calls and commissions us, then we know He will also faithfully guide us across the finish line. With these three in alignment, I can almost guarantee success!
The Word of God is powerful, yet it is so easy to forget about its supernatural potential. I am always reminded of Charles Spurgeon testing an auditorium in which he was to speak later. As he stepped into the pulpit, he loudly proclaimed, Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. (John 1:29) Satisfied with the acoustics, he left. Unknown to him, two men were working in the rafters, neither a Christian. One was deeply convicted by the verse Spurgeon quoted and became a believer later that day.
When we study the word pictures used to describe God’s Word, meditating on them and exploring them in more depth, it will help us to understand its creative and transforming power better. It is compared to a sword, a lamp, a mirror, rain, snow and water. It is described as food, bread, gold and silver, a fire, a hammer, seed and honey. It is when we linger at each of these rich images, allowing the Holy Spirit to bring their wealth to the surface, that we will become more diligent in reading and applying God’s words and more eager to release and proclaim its divine truth.
The word ‘proclaim’ comes from the Latin proclamare and means to “shout forth”. It is Derek Prince who draws a comparison between the concept of proclamation and the New Testament confession, which means “to say the same as.” Therefore, as believers, confession implies that we say the same with our mouths as God has already said in his Word. Being thus aligned with our Heavenly Father’s words in the Bible, our words will release His authority and blessing into a situation, whether a personal need or an international crisis.
There is also a close relationship between a herald (someone who, in the olden days, went to public places to proclaim the will and decisions of a ruler) and a modern-day preacher who publicly proclaims and teaches the Word of God. While we may not all be preachers in the traditional sense of the word, we are all part of God’s church. As such, it is our task to proclaim the gospel in all the world as a witness to every nation, tribe and tongue.
It is against this backdrop and for these reasons that I have decided to announce a Proclamation Challenge. I pray that we will be inspired, not just to rally around a new challenge for the sake of a challenge, but to wisely and accurately wield the Sword of the Spirit in the next eighteen months and do so intentionally and diligently! Above all, I pray that as we go about it, we will see God changing lives, turning people back to Him, restoring relationships, establishing peace where there is conflict, bringing hope where there is despair and worship and wonder to God where there is none!
So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Isaiah 55: 11,12
