Speaker: Pastor Caleb Chiu
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Jesus isn’t just someone we serve, but someone we know.
As we follow Him all the days of our lives, can we sit in His presence to truly know Him? Can we step out of the ever increasing busyness of our days to spend time with Him, to be truly known by Him? And, can we be fully present in every mundane routine, every hidden place, every silence - to allow Him to form our character, so that we can be trusted by Him?
Our goal is to be useful and ready for every good work of the Master, our Father (2 Timothy 2:20). In order for us to be useful to the Father, He needs to trust us. It’s in the process of sitting with Him, being present to Him, that He (gently, as is His way) exposes our areas of weakness so that we can receive His strength in those areas - so that we can be strong in His grace (2 Timothy 2:1). The shaping of our character is how He trains us. Being strong in His grace is not the same as being strongly gifted in a skill. Having my character transformed by God means I am flexible, versatile, and humbly available for every good work of the Master. If I am strong in Him, it means that I have been defeated in my own strength. It means I need Him and receive Him. It means I take all my strength and turn it into surrender.
And surrender invites His trust.
In simply being in the place He’s placed me in to form me, I qualify for what God is doing. The “thing” we do in this place is secondary, really. It’s not the main thing. The main thing - being in His presence - does not just prepare us for the work, it IS the work. Everything we do flows from knowing Him, the One we love and follow.
In a culture where honour and credibility come from outward rank, title, and achievements, can I sit with Him and allow Him to form my heart inside? Can I live from that heart, a heart of simple obedience to the Father’s will? When doing feels better than sitting, can I be still? So that, like the angel Gabriel, my credibility and authority lie in living this rhythm and reality: “I stand in the presence of the Lord” (Luke 1:19). Nothing else, except knowing Him deeply.
