Sometimes everything works against you in the silliest of ways.

The batteries die, the sound gives annoying feedback, and the security alarm goes off during prayer. But when the Word of the Lord wants to get out, his message persists. 

This happened this past Sunday. Technology went awry, and distractions were aplenty. Yet I kept on teaching, praying for my own focus as well as the focus of others. And praying that I would share God's Scripture with power and truth—for that's what his Word is. 

It was especially worrisome because we had people visiting for the first time. I wanted them to feel welcome and at home at Echo Church and hear from the Bible, not be put off by interruptions. Yet perhaps the messiness simply shows that we are not in charge. It is not about our glory. God's Spirit moves through the beautiful and the broken. Surely he can move despite a microphone issue or two.

When we participate with him in sending out his Word, he promises to move through it. 

"As the rain and the snow
    come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
    without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
    so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
    It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
    and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

—Isaiah 55:10-11

Photo by Kane Reinholdtsen on Unsplash