2 Corinthians 12:12
“Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.”
Things that catch your attention are not things that are normal but things that are extraordinary. If what we see is done all the time, it becomes white noise to the eye. It is when something different from everything else or something spectacular is done that causes anyone to stop and take notice of what just happened.
Paul said to the church of Corinth that they saw the signs of the apostles. He said that they saw the power of God working in the apostle, the wonders done through them, and the mighty deeds accomplished. It was these things that caught the eyes of this church.
However, one word makes these things so different, and that word is “patience.” The apostles did these things in patience. What was Paul talking about? Romans 5:3 says that “tribulation worketh patience.” In other words, all these signs were done through the apostles while they endured tribulation. It was doing these things in the hard times that caught the attention of this church.
This generation needs a church that is not like every other church. This generation needs churches that do something great for God. If the signs of the apostles caught the church of Corinth’s attention, those same signs will catch people’s attention today.
The Holy Spirit’s power on any person will catch someone’s attention. The “signs” the verse above is talking about is the power of the Holy Ghost falling on individuals. Nothing will make a believer look differently from others like a believer empowered by the Holy Spirit. Too many believers are doing God’s work in the flesh, and that is why their actions look like everyone else’s.
Moreover, the miraculous done through the believer will cause them to catch the eye of others. If your results are like everyone else’s, there is nothing different that will catch the eye of others around you. It is God’s power working through the believer’s life that causes the miraculous to be done in their life, which will make you so different from others.
Furthermore, mighty deeds being done through a church or individual believer will certainly catch the eye of others. So many churches are dead or dying, when it is God doing mighty deeds through the church or believer that will catch the eye of others. What are these mighty deeds? Mighty deeds are great works being built. One reason churches were growing abundantly in the 1970s is because they were growing tremendously because of the work of those churches that were done in the power of the Holy Ghost. God can still build great works today IF God’s people are willing to labor and do that work through the power of the Holy Ghost.
My friend, the key to this is doing these great works in hard times. The patience you must have is doing God’s work in difficult circumstances. These difficult circumstances force you to have God’s power on you. The greatest works of God are not done in times of ease, but in the most challenging times by people laboring with the power of God on their lives. If you want your life to catch the eye of others, you are going to have to see God do great things with His power despite the difficulties that you have to face.
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