Do you find it easy to trust people? What is your default position? Do you wait for people to prove themselves before you trust them, or do you trust them until they give you a reason not to? Does the second approach seem too trusting? There can be problems with each approach. It is easy to see the problems of being too trusting. You can be taken advantage of. It is harder to see the problems of not trusting enough, but this will cost you opportunities that would have enriched your life if you had acted on them.

Have you ever heard an invocation? This is a slightly old-fashioned term for a prayer, typically at the beginning of an event, for the purpose of welcoming my presence. But what is really being invoked? I am present before you offer the prayer, so it is really more of an acknowledgment of what already exists. In like manner scientists do not create physical laws, but rigorous research makes discoveries of how the world worked all along. I am pleased to have you acknowledge me, so keep making invocations, but do it as an inquiry and openness to my redemptive purpose in that situation.

Have you been through a revival? These are times of intense spiritual activity in the lives of churches and individuals, and are opportunities for growth for both. Devout believers would like to have them constantly, but experience has shown that they can’t be scheduled. They are sovereign works and come at appointed times and run their course. Yet what have you found to be true on an individual level? If you turn your heart to me for renewal, have I ever refused you?

Do you think you are prepared to serve me in important ways? Are you prepared to lead others in the way of life? Don’t think that you need to know everything to do this. There are many aspects to life, and you are more knowledgeable about some than others. In areas where you are further advanced you can provide guidance for others. In their areas of expertise they can help you. So this doesn’t have to be a formal hierarchy, and it can be a two way street. Every member of the body supplies something the other needs, and in turn needs things that only others can give.