Watching the Kingdom Bobber -- Phil Tiews

Its summer and a lot of us will go fishing, or at least that is what we call it! Maybe it is just a good excuse to sit quietly and enjoy the sun and water – hoping we don’t actually catch anything that we will have to clean. Whether you are a serious fisher or a serious lounger, you have possibly fished with a float or bobber at some time, that little red and white ball you attach to your line which floats on the surface. When a fish strikes your bait the ball ‘bobs’ down, you know you have caught something and you go into action, pulling on your rod.

Recently I have been thinking about the prayer Jesus gave us – called the Lord’s Prayer, but really the disciples’ prayer. We are to ask the Father, ‘Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.’ I am sure this is not just a pious sentiment, but that the Father and Jesus want to see their Kingdom breaking in here and now. Eventually it will completely break in, but we are to pray for it with an expectation that we will see signs of it in the present.

In addition, I am sure that we are supposed to be prepared to be part of the answer to that prayer! God wants to work through us to bring His Kingdom and will to people and situations. A word of life, peace out of chaos, healing, deliverance, repentance, shaping enterprises and institutions according to His values, all the different works of the Kingdom. Our whole life is maybe best understood as being ambassadors of His Kingdom in the different spheres He has places us as parents, students, workers, neighbors and more. There is much to say on this at another time.

I am also sure that we are to be partners with the Lord in more immediate, instantaneous expressions of the Kingdom. Things like an inspiration to pray for someone in the middle of the day and you later find out they were facing a great temptation just then. Stopping to talk with a stranger which leads to praying for them. Giving money to someone because the Spirit prompts you.

This is where the bobber comes in. You could call it a Kingdom bobber. The idea is that as we go through our days, let’s keep an eye on that Kingdom bobber. Most of the time it is just going to sit there riding the current of the overall flow of life. But every once in a while it is going to bob down because the Lord and His Kingdom is breaking in at that moment and if we go into action, we will get to be partners in the Lord’s catch.

John Wimber used to speak of ‘seeing what the Father is doing’ and joining in. That is maybe a better and more biblical way of describing the same idea. However we describe it, let’s not go through out days with our head down, about our business, even our overall God-given business, without keeping at least a corner of an eye on the Kingdom bobber. When we see it bob down -- when the Spirit gives us that nudge, speaks to us, or draws our attention – take a moment and ‘strike’ and we will get to partner with the Lord causing His Kingdom to come and His will to be done here, now, and in someone’s life.