The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. - Lamentations 3:22
Dwight L. Moody was one of the most effective and popular preachers/evangelists of the nineteenth century. He came to Christ as a teenage boy working in a Boston shoe store. The experience was so life changing that he moved to Chicago and began working with children, building a children’s outreach ministry that ministered to over a thousand youth every Sunday. Deep inside him, however, he still felt burdened by his lack of zeal for the Lord and an unwillingness to take the gospel to other parts of the nation – and even to the world – something he felt that God was compelling him to consider. He remained steadfast in his unwillingness to leave Chicago and his ministry.
One Sunday in October 1871, Moody preached to hundreds of young men and women, inviting them to return the following Sunday for a final message in his series, where he would encourage them to give their lives to the Lord. That Sunday never came. Just as the service was concluding, fire alarms sounded in the streets, and his parishioners left the church to see the city of Chicago in flames. The Great Chicago Fire burned for three days, destroying Moody’s church and his home. Greatly distressed, and with the ministry now in ashes, Moody left Chicago for New York. He began raising funds to restart the ministry, but found that his heart was not in it. He did not wish to be a “beggar for God,” and there was now a coldness in his soul. His desire to share the gospel was waning. Not long after, however, while walking down Wall Street, he experienced a spiritual awakening. As he shares in his own words, I was always crying out to God that he would fill me with his Spirit. Then one day in the city of New York – ah, what a day! – I cannot describe it. I seldom refer to it; it is almost too sacred an experience to name. I can only say that God revealed himself to me, and I had such an experience of his love that I had to ask him to stay his hand, lest it kill me.
From that day forward Moody’s preaching was empowered and was profoundly used by God. Thousands came to Christ as the fruit of his preaching and teaching. Moody stated that it was not his actions or even his obedience that led to his spiritual awakening, but that it was owed solely to the mercy and love of God. That awakening caused him to give up his dreams of a stable ministry in Chicago for a ministry of travel and teaching across the globe. The world is a better place as a result of God’s mercy and work in Moody’s life and Moody’s subsequent obedience as a response to God’s mercy.
Dwight Moody ignored and resisted the deeper work of the Spirit in his life, even as a Christian and full-time minister. God still loved him, and his early ministry, although not as effective as the ministry in his later life (after his awakening), was still what any casual observer would have called “blessed.” God wanted to do more through Moody’s work, but Moody would not allow it. It took the physical destruction of his home and ministry and many months of soul-searching and a sense of abandonment by God to finally break through his defenses.
I find this principle at play in my own life occasionally. I suspect many of you do as well. I have committed myself to a two-month period of soul-searching, asking God to open my eyes to unrepentant sin, missed opportunities, and defenses that I may have laid up against his Spirit. I sense no leading by God to move away, or to change my role in ministry, but I do sense that God would do more in my life and ministry if I would be open to his leading. I tell you this not because I sense anyone in the congregation is refusing to submit to God. I do, however, believe it is always healthy for us to consider our walk with the Lord and how we might move further along in our sanctification with the help of the Holy Spirit. Maybe you would like to consider laying aside time for some soul-searching as well. If so, shoot me an email, and I will commit to praying for you for whatever period of time you designate. I am asking that God will mercifully make me a more committed Christ-follower at this stage of my life. I hope and pray that he will do the same for all of you who desire to know him more and to be used by him in greater ways.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Jym