My brain works in analogies. The situations I learn the most from are those that draw parallels between what I can see (in front of me or in my mind’s eye) and what I believe. Analogies are a HUGE faith builder for me.

Anyway, recently the Lord has given me a word I think worth sharing, as it definitely pertains to movement. The word: SPREAD OUT. Not only did the Lord give me the word, but he gave me a series of pictures to help me understand what on Earth he meant.

#1 – Fertilizer

Okay, I’ll be honest, I didn’t see a picture of miracle grow……it was a pile of crap…literally. As I thought about why the Lord was showing me that I realized it’s quite genius. You see, a pile of poop is fairly worthless and disgusting as strictly a pile of poop. However, when you SPREAD it OUT over a plot of ground where things have been planted, it encourages and increases the ability for life to grow. Brilliant picture.

#2 – Team Sports

Whether basketball, football, hockey, baseball or volleyball, the concept of SPREADing OUT is extremely necessary to the success of the team. You never see a volleyball team bunch up into one corner as they wait for the other team to serve. And a baseball team certainly does not gather around third base as a pitch is thrown. Clumping the entire team together is possibly the worst defense and offense in the context of most (if not all) team sports. In team sports it is understood that each player has a role to play to contribute to the team. Everyone accepts the job they are assigned, the position they are playing to make the team successful. Everyone cannot be the quarterback. Can you imagine that? Ridiculous.

#3 – Search Party

This one was the most punctuated for me personally. I happen to be fairly well versed in the department of survival skills…like in the wilderness. (I’m serious.) Anyway, standard protocol for what to do in the event of finding yourself lost in the wilderness is the stay put. It takes a lot of willpower to stay in one place, but that is the best way to get found.

The flip side of that is (assuming you were smart enough to tell someone when & where you were going) someone will eventually notice you are missing and will initiate a search party. If you’ve never been a part of a search party, I’ll clue you in on what it looks like. A LOT of people come together. The more people, the more likely you are to find the person quickly. Everyone SPREADs OUT over the designated area, maintaining about a 10-15 ft gap between each other. It is essential that everyone in the search party SPREADs OUT while maintaining sight of both the party members on either side of them. Everyone in the search party then begins to move at the same pace through the area being searched, combing the area with their eyes and ears as they go, the end goal being finding said lost person.

SPREAD OUT.

This is a call to the Christian community.

Is all your time spent solely with other people who believe what you believe? Think like you think?

You have something to offer to the people “out there”. If you choose not to share it…it literally becomes like a pile of crap…doesn’t produce any life.

SPREAD OUT!

Are you riding someone else’s coattails? Chasing someone else’s dream?

Have you considered that maybe you’re not supposed to play the same position as them?

You’re part is just as essential as theirs. They are different on purpose.

You are different ON PURPOSE.

SPREAD OUT!!

Is your heart breaking for “the lost”?

Are you REALLY interested in helping find people in the wilderness and bringing them back into the hope there is in Jesus?

One man walking in the forest looking for another lost man is a recipe for two lost men. You need a team, a community, a people willing to literally walk side by side through the brush until the lost are found.

We need to SPREAD OUT!!!