Whose move?

Prepping for my "talk" at the Ivy Congress next week, I came across this in my notes for a message I gave in 2007 at Cornell: "If we aren’t living recklessly abandoned to God, what are we doing? I really want to challenge you to think about that question, and to take those first steps, which may be the wrong ones, but take those first steps to move and God will honor those steps. And as you take those first steps and move, God will move with you."

Looking back from where I am now, and thinking about what I'm going to share at the Ivy Congress where the Lord first called me into ministry six years ago, I think I would word things a little differently. I do believe that God honors your steps to follow Him, however misguided, misdirected or mistaken. When you're in a posture ready to move, I do believe this allows God to move you more easily in any direction. I used to play shooting guard in High School, and if I wasn't ready to shoot before I received the pass, it would be too late. If I waited for the pass and then set up to shoot, the defender would already be in my face and the shot would be blocked. I had to be ready, in a ready position, even before I knew the ball was coming to me. So, now instead of saying "As you take those first steps and move, God will move with you" I think I would say, "As you take those first steps and move, the Lord will direct your steps to where He is already moving." God has planned good works for us in advance as Christ's workmanship (Ephesians 2:10) -- He's not waiting to see what college we decide to go to, what job to have and then what job we will have after that, or who we will marry before He determines where we will go in the future (as if "the future" is the only time when He will lead! We can't keep looking to the future as the time when we will be involved in God's kingdom). He already knows our entire life and is directing our steps, and our prayers, by the Holy Spirit to do exactly what He has planned. But are we in that ready position, even before we know what's coming and even if the pass doesn't come, to take the shot? 

In 2010, three years after I gave that talk at Cornell, my company was coming up with a new tagline for mobilization and we came up with "Your move."  The mystery of all this is that though God is sovereign, ruling, in control, and almighty, man and his decisions still play a part. Throughout Scripture we see that God and man have an intimate relationship and God is constantly inviting man into His plans. From Adam to Noah to Abraham to Moses to Deborah to Esther to David to Mary and Joseph to the disciples and apostles, God wants man to participate in the redemption of people on earth. God is already doing great things in the world, and has been before the beginning of time, to gather His people from all nations, tribes and tongues to Himself. What are you going to do in response to this? God is inviting you to participate in His plans. It's your move.