More Chase Your Crazy

I was over halfway into writing this week’s blog on a completely different subject when a friend of mine asked me about last week’s “Chase Your Crazy” blog.

He told me of an unusual situation he had encountered during the week and asked my advice. “Was that a chase your crazy moment?” he asked. In the previous blog, I had shared one of the craziest things that happened to me and how God was orchestrating it all.

In regard to my friend’s question, my answer was “could be or could not be, but it’s definitely worth paying attention to see what God does next.” I explained that in all my “chase your crazy” moments God always used some circumstance to confirm that He was indeed at work.

Then God brought to mind one of the biggest “chase your crazy” confirmation moments in my life, which I shared with my friend and I feel obliged to share with you. Little did I know that as I spoke with my friend, God was literally setting me up for my own “chase your crazy”moment. Let me explain because it’s just too crazy not to share.

I was telling my friend about one of the biggest crossroads of my life that happened 20 years ago. About two years prior, I felt very clearly that God was leading me to plant a church in Denver, NC. But two years of planning and preparing had gone by and I was having second (and maybe third) thoughts. I knew the toll it was going to take on our family and that it would likely cost us friendships. It sounds crazy, but if you ever want to upset the community, just start a church.

I had about three other scenarios that I could do that would be a lot more convenient and a lot less costly. And on this particular day, I was seriously considering those other options.

Then something happened to me that had never happened in my life before and hasn’t since.

A man I barely knew (I only knew that he was a follower of Christ) came up to me and said, “God told  me to give you a word.” Now, if someone said that to you, what would be your first thought? Probably whatever your first thought would be is exactly what was going through my mind in that moment.

But then he opened his little pocket Bible to Philippians 1:6 and read the following: “Being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.” As he read that verse, I knew I was done with second thoughts and trying to run from my calling. And from that moment on, I was confident that planting the church was exactly what I was supposed to do - come what may.

But wait, the updated story gets even weirder. Fast forward 20 plus years to my conversation with my friend last week. After I got off the phone with him, I was driving down the road thinking maybe I should do a follow up to last week’s “Chase Your Crazy” blog when I heard a little “ding” on my phone. It was my daily Bible verse app and I looked down, at my phone, and the hairs on my arms stood up as I looked at the day’s passage. Maybe you’ve already guessed it.

Philippians 1:6: “Being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.”

Now before anyone says that’s just a coincidence, let me remind you that there are 23,145 verses in the Bible and you’re telling me that it’s just happenstance that that verse popped up in that moment?

I immediately called my friend and told him what happened and his response was the same as mine. But then it got a little stranger when, as he was talking to me, he happened to glance at his wife’s screensaver on her phone that she had just updated the night before and there was Philippians 1:6 one more time (just in case we weren’t paying attention).

God is so good! He’s so intentional and so detailed when it comes to speaking to us. We just have to pay attention.

I don’t know if He was just speaking to me or my friend or both of us. But I knew I had to change my blog topic for the week!

What I haven’t shared yet is that, since starting fuel2ignite, I had been having self-doubt. The thoughts had been swirling around my brain, “Is this really helping anyone? Am I wasting my time?” As I received these multiple reminders with the same verse God had used in my life 20-plus years ago, it was just another confirmation to keep moving forward. God reminded me that He planted this dream in my heart and that He is going to “carry it on to completion” if I’ll just trust Him and follow Him.

Same is true for my friend. Same is true for you. Just trust Him and follow Him and chase your crazy.