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"Behold, I will do a new thing,
Now it shall spring forth;
Shall you not know it?
I will even make a road in the wilderness
And rivers in the desert."
(Isaiah 43:19)
Dr. Allum was one of my favorite professors in college. I took him for just about everything he taught as I pursued my minor in English at the University of Mobile, in Mobile, AL. One semester, I enrolled in his class on Shakespeare's writings. My classmates and I were quiet the first few times we met when he asked for our feedback on the plays. We should have read them in preparation for the class time, but we did not. One day we showed up for class, and he instructed us to get our things together and follow him. We had no idea where we were going but quickly realized as we walked across campus that we were heading to the library. Now, this was before the days when college classrooms were fully outfitted with technology. He had reserved a room in the library where we would meet for the rest of the semester so he could show us films of the Shakespearean plays and then we could discuss them. He figured since we would not read the plays, he would bring them to us.
I appreciated Dr. Allum's creativity and mixing things up a bit. It is easy to get caught up doing the same things over and over such that we end up in a rut, making no progress. It is also easy to slip into bad habits and not do what we should be doing. In both instances, a change is needed. Dr. Allum knew that the path our class was on was not going to lead us to a good destination. Not many of us would have passed his class. So, he was creative and changed things up so much that it brought about a much-needed change to the dynamics of the class and us having a chance to pass it.
Are you stuck today in your relationship with the Lord? Do you need a change, a fresh start, a little help getting out of the rut you have created? God loves you and desires that you not just get by and survive in your walk with Him; He desires for you to be in a thriving, dynamic relationship with Him, one in which you begin each day with anticipation asking, "What exciting things will I get to do for God today?"
It is easy for churches to get stuck as well. At the church I am blessed to serve as the pastor, Great Hills Baptist Church in Austin, TX, we have decided to mix things up a bit occasionally and have prayer meetings on Sunday mornings! We have done this twice this year, and each time, people responded by telling me how much they love doing this. I think part of the success of these prayer services is that we step out of our routines and mix things up a bit. We take what we normally do on Wednesday evenings and bring it to Sunday mornings. We are also able to accomplish one of the key purposes of the church: prayer.
Be open to the Spirit of God leading you today to do something out of the ordinary that will cause you to be more dependent on God. I think you might be pleasantly surprised and blessed by the experience.
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