As Christians, we all say we would like to see a new move of God in our own lives, in the lives of our families, and in the lives of our nations and the world. I think many Christians are actually praying for a spiritual awakening in our world. We dream about what it would be like if so many people sold out to Christ that entire industries of vice could no longer stay in business. However, in my experience and in the Word of God, we actually see people resisting a move of God when it disrupts their normal way of thinking and living. 

In Mark 5:15-17, Jesus delivered a maniac from his demon possession. This man had been a public nuisance for some time, and the community could not even imprison him because of his supernatural strength, brought about by the demons who possessed him. But when Jesus delivered him and set him free, and after sending the demons into their pigs, which caused a financial loss, the people begged Jesus to leave their region. They had dreamed about this man being restored to his right mind, but when it happened, and it affected their financial bottom line, they wanted nothing to do with the one who brought about the deliverance. 

We see this kind of backward thinking with the religious elite of Jesus’ day as well. They prayed and prayed for the Messiah to come, but when Jesus showed up and began to heal people on the sabbath, working in ways that didn’t fit inside their religious box, they determined and proceeded to kill Him. 

In both churches I pastored, as I was being recruited to become their pastor, the people told me they wanted to see people saved and a fresh move of God in their church. However, when God began to move, and His action resulted in needing to move to new locations to accommodate all the new people getting saved, suddenly, a move of God wasn’t what they wanted. One person wrote to me something like, “Why do we need new people in our church? I think our church is just the right size.” They wanted to see God move until it required other types of change, such as new people in leadership and new programming to disciple all the new converts. One deeply entrenched church member said to me, “You don’t need us anymore because you are using so many of them, new people.” In the first church I took, they told me that the founding pastor’s dream had been to see the church filled with people, but the only day it was ever full was the day of his funeral. As soon as God packed this church out with new converts, the ladies who had shared the founding pastor’s dream with me left the church. 

You might be thinking, “Why is Jeff sharing this with us?” I’ll tell you why. I don’t want you to miss a move of God, or even worse, find yourself resisting a move of God when it comes to your family, church, school, or business. I was talking with the young leader of an excellent organization lately, and he told me of a great opportunity God had presented to his organization that would significantly increase their ability to reach many new young people with the gospel. He took this amazing opportunity to his board, where they immediately crushed it with negativity.

If we want to make sure that we don’t miss a move of God when God brings it our way, we must be determined to live in constant communion with the Spirit of God. Sin, in its many iterations, such as pride, selfishness, greed, etc., will cause us to miss out on what God wants to do. We must determine to live daily surrendered to the will of God, and when we do, we will get to be a part of the work God is doing in this world.