Part 2
The Door is Open - Part 2 - The Governor
Have you ever been in worship when suddenly the whole atmosphere shifts and you can feel a tangible presence of God that captivates your heart? Everything in your being starts yearning to run and soar with the Lord. But no matter how hard you try to “take off”, you feel grounded, as if something is constraining you and pulling you back to earth.
I had this experience in the second session of the gathering. We had felt to begin the Thursday evening session in worship, waiting for the Lord to release further instructions to us. The worship team was entering into deep places with the Holy Spirit and I could feel not only myself but many people longing to do the same. But every time the worship would build to a point that it seemed like we were going to break through to a new level, something would hinder us and we would drop back down to earth. So the whole worship session felt like a yoyo: up and down, up and down. And when the worship ended, there wasn’t the release that comes when you know you have fulfilled what the Lord intended. It was more like knocking and knocking on a door until finally we got tired and things sort of faded out to an incomplete finish. And the promise of “something more” hung heavy in the air.
During the worship, I kept asking the Lord, “What is going on?” And He spoke one word clearly to my spirit – governor. I looked it up in the dictionary and found this definition: an attachment to a machine (as a gasoline engine) for automatic control or limitation of speed.
Then the Lord said to me, “People are being limited by their past experiences and so, even though the door is open, they are not able to enter into the new.”
Corporate worship can sometimes be like going to a swimming pool with a group of people. When the worship starts, you get excited and jump full force into the pool. But just as you start enjoying the water, someone suddenly yells “Ok, out of the pool.” It’s only at that point that you realize, to your horror, that other people, while dressed in bathing suits, haven’t actually ever left the edge of the pool. Since you are standing there sopping wet while everyone else is dry, you can feel kind of stupid for your exuberance.
If this happens to you a few times I will guarantee that the next time you go swimming, you will think twice about jumping into the pool first. Maybe you’ll just stand on the edge and poke a toe in to test the water and see if anyone else is going to jump in first.
This is how a lot of Gen Xers have felt in worship in church. As soon as worship starts, we get excited and dive in head first. But just as the presence of God is building, suddenly someone gets up and says it’s time to do announcements or take an offering. To shift from intense passion or intimacy of communion with God into planning the next church picnic is like shifting straight from fifth gear into first gear. It’s grinding and painful. So much so that subtly we can start holding ourselves back.
That’s how our past experiences become a governor on our spirits, preventing us from going full speed in the way we know God has fashioned us to do. What God desires is to free us from this governor, so that we have no limitations in our passionate pursuit of the presence of God in worship and every other area of our lives.
So how can we get free from the governor of past experiences? It’s not by trying harder or forcing ourselves. In fact, it’s the opposite – it’s by coming into a place of greater surrender.
To hear more about how God wants to free us from the governor, click here to access the MP3 from the Thursday night session of the gathering. (Click link to listen – a window will open in your internet browser. To download the mp3 simply right click on the browser and select “save source as”)
Love,
Stephanie
On behalf of the Awaken Team
We desire our journey to be an expression of the corporate body and not just a few of us, so if the Lord gives you a vision or dream or speaks to you through a scripture or if you have a story or testimony you would like to share, please send it to share@awakenthedream.org.
If you would like to stay connected with Awaken the Dream and the journey, you may sign up at http://www.awakenthedream.org/connect.
