The More Important Thing

Streams Ministries October 2011 e-Letter
by John Paul Jackson

Several years ago, when Streams Ministries was still located in New Hampshire, I started hearing footsteps. Some of the time, it would be my editor coming into my office to tell me I had a phone call or something else, but at other times, no one would be there. I would hear someone enter, but the office would be empty.

Well, this is strange, I would think.

The Busy Body of Christ

All of us have experienced different seasons of busyness in life. I don’t mean periods of time when we are swamped for a week or two; I mean entire months and years of busyness, when we don’t have time for God because we are trying to do things for Him. In this story, I was in one of those seasons. I had not slowed down in a long time.

One day, I was in the office by myself. I heard someone come into the room and assumed that my staff had returned. I was on a roll, so I kept working, figuring they would tell me what they needed.

But no one said anything. The steps stopped right behind my chair, and the next thing I knew, I felt arms around me. The physical presence was so real that at first, I thought I was being hugged. But when I looked down, nothing was there.

I began to weep, overwhelmed by incredible love and compassion. Conviction dropped over me like a blanket. In a moment, I knew the Lord was showing me that I had gotten too busy for Him. I wasn’t giving Him time to touch me.

No Substitutions

We can have phenomenal experiences in God: visitations, translations, transportations, trances, dreams, visions, etc. We can learn to recognize His voice and have angels bring us messages of profound revelation. We can have extreme prophetic gifting and direct the courses of nations. But none of these things can act as a substitute for Him. Doing what God has called you to do is an excellent thing—but not when it takes His place.

Obviously, walking in our calling is very important, but we can’t ever forget why we are walking in our calling—why we wanted to take this road in the first place. Our focus can easily shift from God Himself to being busy with what He has given us to do.

Practice the Presence

Around the time of our move to New Hampshire, it seemed like everyone wanted a piece of my attention. I felt constantly pulled on. I love people and I want to help them, but that day in my office, I felt the Lord was letting me know, “John Paul Jackson, you’ve gotten so busy working for Me that you don’t have room for Me to touch you. You don’t make time for Me to touch you, like you used to.”

It may seem like an oxymoron, but sometimes we are so busy going after Him that we fail to wait for Him. As Isaiah 30:18 declares, God moves and acts on the behalf of those who wait for Him. They give Him time, and He responds.

No matter what happens in our relationship with God, what level of gifting we have, where we feel God has placed us in His body, the influence we may or may not have—we need to keep our gaze on the more important thing: God Himself.

Throughout our lives, there will be times when God calls us to hard work and other times when God calls us to rest; in both seasons, He is here. Where are you? Learn to hear His voice. Seek Him out. Let Him touch you. Practice the presence of God and grant Him the desire of His heart.

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© 2011 Streams Ministries International
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