Honoring The Lord When He Comes

by Charles P. Schmitt

Recently, three of us pastors went to a pastors' meeting in Washington, D.C. The two brothers who gave the keynote challenge were Bart Pierce and Tommy Tenney from the Baltimore Move of the Holy Spirit. After these brothers finished sharing, the atmosphere was charged with the Presence of God. The Lord was clearly revealing Himself among us by His Manifest Presence. Suddenly the voice of one of the meeting's leaders called us to redirect our attention. I was taken back by the shifting of the gears!

Time had slipped by; the lunch hour was almost over and by then the schedule was “off schedule.” The leader reminded us of the lunch arrangements, and began to introduce the afternoon workshop leaders, and enlist attendance for the workshops after lunch – and I just sat there dumbfounded. GOD HIMSELF HAD BEEN UNUSUALLY PRESENT AMONG US! EVERYTHING ELSE – LUNCH AND WORKSHOPS INCLUDED – SHOULD HAVE BEEN PUT ON HOLD FOR US TO TARRY BEFORE HIM, AND CHERISH HIS PRESENCE! Instead, we just carried on with the program.

We know that God is present among us in all of our services, but there are times when God reveals Himself in a most unusual way! In seasons of God's unusual manifestation, we must not just continue on with our program of events! We must stop to HONOR HIM; we must linger before him, as Joshua did in Exodus 33:7-11! And if a special number does not get sung; or a special speaker does not get to speak; or a baby dedication gets moved to the next service; or even if first service runs over and there are no immediate parking spaces for the second service – can we bear with these upsets in order to honor our God when He comes and reveals Himself among us in a very special way?

One of the Greek words for time is “kairos”, which the Lexicon defines as “a short season laden with opportunity which must be seized or lost forever.” We dare not ever be those who miss the time of our visitation! We must commit ourselves to HONOR THE LORD WHEN HE REVEALS HIMSELF!