Early in our journey through this time, we listened to a rather wonderful teaching by English pastor Paul Scanlon. In this teaching he spoke about the habit of God of giving you a glimpse of something about your life, & then drawing you to a higher place before he takes you too far into that next step. Well, my wife & I independent of one another both saw something of the next step in our lives. We believe that God is drawing us to a higher place so that we will be equipped & ready to respond when the full revelation of this purpose comes to pass. For me this has meant getting to the place that Dr Meyer suggests. It has been a gradual process of becoming still, watching, listening for “that still small voice” or “gentle whisper” (1 Kings 19: 12). Here’s a key for you; you can’t hear that gentle whisper in a room full of noise!!

One thing revealed to me has been the number of issues in my life that God was asking me to surrender. Early in February this year, I gave a retreat for a group of 17 year olds, & one question that was asked about the way that teenagers view relationships prompted the response “look we all think the same about this question. Can we just move on to the next one?” My years of experience told me that in fact this wasn’t the case so I pressed on & many of the students were genuinely surprised at the depth & variety of responses. When it came to the issue of surrender, I was just like one of those teenagers. I was saying to God, “look God, I’ve done this stuff before; I know what I have surrendered & I don’t think I need to do any more work on this. Can we move on to the next question?” Sometimes I think that the phrase “God is smiling down on us” refers to God smiling because he thinks we are funny. So I have since been diligently & sometimes painfully cataloguing the various “life” issues that God wants me to address by way of surrender. My friends, this is not a fun thing to do. For me though, it is a critical step towards that “higher place” that Paul Scanlon spoke of.

Another issue that has come up is discerning which door to walk through. Throughout the course of our lives, we are constantly faced with the need to decide between various opportunities that come our way. As a musician, I am often saddened to hear of someone that I thought of as gifted (and called) musician who some 10 years later has put the guitar under the bed & ended up just eking out a 9 – 5 existence. There is nothing wrong with living a life that sees you in the workforce every day; many great people have spent their life serving God in a workplace that isn’t connected specifically with any church or church ministry. What is sad is when you know that this person has simply walked through the wrong door of opportunity. For us right now, this is a really hot issue. I have work opportunities regularly presenting themselves to me. It is so hard to stay true to what I believe to be the calling & purpose for my life when some of these come around. To deny my calling & just get on with a career path that paid the bills would for me be like embracing a kind of spiritual death. At the bottom of all of this is the really basic question where God says “Mick, just how much do you trust me?” To trust God is to put in place the strategies of prayer & seeking God in his word, so that when that wonderful moment of grace comes along, you will know which door to walk through; no doubt.

I believe that this “holding pattern” time is all about that last question. How much do I trust God? It’s about drawing each of us to a place where God is challenging us to realise that come feast or famine, I am totally reliant on him. It’s easy to get busy for God & then forget to do the very things that keep you strong. It’s easy to have things humming along so effectively that you forget that God is the source & the reason why it is where it is.
So what has Maximus the gladiator got to do with all of this? That’s a good question & I’m glad you asked it. I believe that this time of being in a holding pattern is a time when God forces us to speak plainly & honestly without all of the usual pomp & ceremony that we sometimes lose ourselves in. I have really enjoyed the way in which God has drawn me deeper into a discussion, or prayer if you will, that I had forgotten how to have with him. I am also keenly aware of God’s sovereignty, so that when God says “Mick, there is something I would have you do” that like Maximus, I would jump to attention with my hands clasped in deference to my king & say “What would you have me do Lord?”

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