[After] nearly three weeks in Zimbabwe in Southern Africa, I was astonished at the dichotomy between extreme poverty on one hand, and extreme praise and passion for Christ on the other.
I asked one of the pastors from the town of Bulawayo where I had preached, “How can a people so poor and with so little to be thankful for, come a full hour early to the tent meeting simply to praise God with such zeal and gladness?” Praise and worship in the States sometimes barely appears as a “blip” on the radar of a 60-minute Sunday morning church service.
I will never forget his response. “Steve, in America you believe in God. In Africa, we depend on God.”
His words sank into my chest... believing but not depending. In crisis, Christ is magnified. He becomes the God who can do “exceeding abundantly above all that we could ever ask or think.”
I call Him the God of the ridiculous. However, we do not need the God of the ridiculous to do the same things we’ve always done before. I believe that somewhere in the crisis, Christ is calling us in all of our decisions to decide to depend on him even if it means doing the ridiculous.
- Steve Fitzhugh, national spokesman for Fellowship of Christian Athletes
a friday quote: believing or depending
Many people today are in some form of crisis, whether it's one that seems new or another that all too familiar. Leaders are often exposed to this more than others, whether it's the crisises of the people they serve or their own. I'm reminded of this quote and the difference between believing and depending on God.
