Approaching the throne of grace with confidence

Hey Element Church! Andy joined us for his first staff meeting yesterday and then we met as a Lead Team (Grant, Adam, Curtis, Andy and myself) to discuss and plan some church stuff. It is great having Andy here and on the team. He and Curtis spent many hours prior to Andy moving here talking on the phone, planning, strategizing, etc. I commend Curtis for his hard work in making sure this transition is smooth. Andy will be leading JV Fusion tomorrow night! Anyway, I love the verse in Hebrews 4:16 that says "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." It's amazing to me that we can approach God's throne with confidence and not terror. (A healthy fear of God is needed. We should not be terrified of Him) Why can we approach with confidence? Yesterday I think we as a Lead Team experienced why.

Andy is coming to Element completely volunteer. That means he needs a good full time job with the right hours. Our staff meetings are Mondays, JV Fusion is Wednesday nights and obviously he needs to have weekends off, especially Sundays. Well, he received a job offer yesterday that was the pay he needed and the hours he needed, but he would most likely work EVERY Monday. Another job he applied for would give him Saturday - Monday off, still with the hours he needs and pay he needs but he hadn't heard back for his second interview yet. The first job offer HAD to know by today if Andy wanted the job. It was a tough decision time for Andy. He was leaning toward the Saturday - Monday off job but just didn't know if he could wait when this other was on the table. Before we broke the Lead Team meeting we prayed for Andy. Andy said his prayer was that if God didn't want him to say yes to the offer on the table for the other opportunity to call him back that day.

So, we approached the throne of grace with confidence. We prayed "Lord, if Andy is supposed to wait on taking this job offer we ask that TODAY the other place would call". During our prayer Andy received a phone call. We ended, he looked at his phone and said "That was them!" LOL "NO WAY!" I said. They called, WHILE WE WERE PRAYING FOR THEM TO CALL, and set up an interview this morning at 6:30 AM for Andy. SO, Andy could go to the interview and still have time to way the two options before making a decision.

Why can approach the throne of grace with confidence? I think it's found in the last part of the verse. Because we can find grace to help us in our time of need. It's the times we pray and receive answers like that, which allow us to approach God's throne with confidence. He hears us! He answers us! He takes care of us! Because of moments like those, it enables us to trust in Him when the answer may not come as quickly. Or the need is not filled right away. We will always remember the time God answered our prayer WHILE we were praying. Next time? We'll approach the throne of grace with confidence again! Praise the Lord.

Confidently Approaching,

Jeff