Start Paddling!

On Saturday I went down to Putsborough Beach (near Croyde) for a spot of surfing. As a relative newcomer to this, I am still learning but I can stand up on a board (a big one!) and catch the waves nearer to shore. The surf was very messy (breaking unevenly) and coming in at different angles. The wind was also coming in from the sea which did not help! Anyway, enough nerd-talk. Whilst in the sea, I was talking to Nathan from BCC ( who is a keen and very capable surfer himself). He had watched me catch a wave and I asked him for a few pointers. Something he said really stuck with me and I realised God was teaching me something through this simple piece of practical surfing advice: as I was waiting for the wave, Nathan simply shouted, "START PADDLING!". I was just waiting for it and then paddling at the last minute.

To go longer, further and maximise the full power of the wave, it has to catch you as you are move forward at its pace. I still caught the wave but because I was not paddling enough to gain my own momentum, I was not harnessing its true power. God really spoke to me through this whole sequence of events. His Spirit is flowing all the time; He wants to fill us, flow out of us and carry us along into God's perfect will and purposes.

We have a job to do though: paddle.

Let me give you an illustration of this principle in practice. Yesterday morning the worship team gathered for our usual pre-meeting practice. I have done hundreds of these over the years and each one is always unique; some go well others do not. This one felt quite flat and laboured. I have learnt through experience not to try and drive things when this is happening; it is a spiritual matter and needs to be dealt with in the Spirit. I stopped the practice and we went to the back of the Bourne and started to pray. We began to paddle; building up in ourselves a desire to catch the wave of the Holy Spirit and find ourselves propelled forward by His life and power. We spoke in tongues. We began to thank God and praise Him for who He is and what He's done. We stirred up faith and the gifts God has placed in all of us. the spiritual atmosphere began to change and when we opened with 'Found in You', I felt so different as Holy Spirit began to pick us up and take us forward.

Make this a day when you paddle in the Spirit so you too can catch the fresh wave that will take you further, longer and deeper into His perfect purposes.