Behind the Scenes

I live in a city lined with leafy green maple trees. Now that winter is here, all the leaves are gone--revealing huge nests squirreled away in branches and wrapped in twigs. The nests were there all along--I just couldn't see them before because of all the leaves.

I'm not a bird-watcher but I sure love seeing those nests--they always remind me of how the Holy Spirit works behind the scenes and beyond what we can see. As leaders we get so busy gathering supplies, preparing sessions, building our song repertoire, and finally teaching kids, that sometimes at the end of a session we wonder if the story we shared will nest in the hearts of our kids. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit was there working behind us "leaves"--preparing before us, working with us, and continuing to take hold after us.

Paul talks about what God has been doing "in secret and behind the scenes all along" in Ephesians 3. As a children's ministry leader it's one of my favorite passages of Scripture:

This is my life work: helping people understand and respond to this Message. It came as a sheer gift to me, a real surprise, God handling all the details. When it came to presenting the Message to people who had no background in God's way, I was the least qualified of any of the available Christians. God saw to it that I was equipped, but you can be sure that it had nothing to do with my natural abilities.

And so here I am, preaching and writing about things that are way over my head, the inexhaustible riches and generosity of Christ. My task is to bring out in the open and make plain what God, who created all this in the first place, has been doing in secret and behind the scenes all along. Through followers of Jesus like yourselves gathered in churches, this extraordinary plan of God is becoming known and talked about even among the angels!

All this is proceeding along lines planned all along by God and then executed in Christ Jesus. When we trust in him, we're free to say whatever needs to be said, bold to go wherever we need to go. So don't let my present trouble on your behalf get you down. Be proud!

My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.  (Ephesians 3: 7-21a, The Message)

Isn't that awesome? Remember those words as you spot a hidden nest this week and as you prepare to minister to the kids God sends your way in 2010. (And please pass them on to other team members to encourage them today!)

P.S. Taking time out to be with God is a wonderful way to prepare your heart. Faith Alive has published a newly updated version of a 366 day devotional (yup, even leap year is covered!) called Daylight. It's the perfect book to read with your Cheerios in the morning as part of your 2010 plan to start the day off right!