Life Is Too Short to Get It Wrong

There's a phrase that kept surfacing throughout this week's message, and it's one worth sitting with: life is too short to get it wrong. Not "get it wrong" in the sense of failing perfectly — but in the sense of staying comfortable, staying quiet, staying a spectator when God has called every single one of us to more.

The danger of becoming spectators

Pastor Christie Owings shared about the revival currently happening in Corpus Christi, Texas — a move of God that broke open, in large part, because a pastor there had a simple but convicting revelation: the church has rarely told people "you can't" pray for the sick or minister deliverance outside a service. But how often have churches actually told people "you can" — that this is what you're supposed to be doing, wherever you are, in your workplace, your campus, your neighborhood? That silence, that gap between permission and activation, has created what was described Sunday as "a culture of spectators."

It's an honest word for our own church family too. Worship isn't meant to be something a few people do up front while everyone else watches — it's meant to be something every believer participates in. The same goes for praying for the sick, sharing a testimony, or delivering a word from the Lord. If we think only certain "qualified" people can do those things, we stay in the stands instead of on the field, and the good, exciting things God has put inside us never get poured out.

Lukewarm is a warning, not a compliment

Revelation 3:15-16 was named directly as a caution here — there is real danger in being lukewarm, in simply spectating. As it was put Sunday, "if we're okay with just the status quo, nothing's ever going to change." Ephesians 5:15-16 was also part of the word, reminding us that the days are evil and we're called to make the most of every one of them. That's not a call to hustle harder or white-knuckle our way into more ministry activity — it's a call to abide in Him, to actually take time to hear what He's doing before rushing to do something in our own strength. Human effort has limits. Programs, emotional hype, and intellectual arguments have limits. What doesn't have limits is a life abiding in Him and Him in us.

A testimony of living connected to God

One of the most moving parts of the morning was a testimony shared from a woman who survived a serious car accident and brain injury. After years of therapy with little progress, a doctor told her plainly that tens of thousands of neurons were gone for good — she'd never fly again, never make it to a wedding, never gather with extended family for Thanksgiving. It was devastating news. But she came back the next week and said something remarkable: the doctor was right to face the facts, but she wasn't facing all the facts — including the fact that God could still heal her. She kept turning to Him, kept praying, kept showing up. Months later, praying with someone who took her hands, she felt something like lightning move through her body — and walked away with no evidence of the brain injury at all, memories restored and all. When asked what the greatest part of that whole journey was, her answer wasn't the healing itself — it was learning to live connected to God every single day, asking Him constantly, "What do you want me to see? What do you want me to hear? How do I love the person in front of me?"

That's the invitation underneath everything shared this week. Not a formula, not a program, not a theatrical moment — just abiding, staying close, and letting that closeness overflow into the world around us.

An honest word about words from the Lord

There was also a practical, grounded piece of teaching about hearing from God and delivering words to others: write them down. Record them if you can. That way you can follow up, track what came to pass, and fine-tune your own hearing over time. None of us hear perfectly, and that's okay — deliver a word with the confidence you actually have, whether that's bold certainty or a gentle "I think I heard..." It's not about being impressive. It's about being honest.

Something to sit with this week

Where in your life have you settled into being a spectator instead of a participant — waiting for someone else to pray, to minister, to step out? And what would it look like this week to simply abide a little closer, to ask throughout your day, "Lord, what do you want me to see, hear, and do right now?"

Catch The Fire Boulder meets Sundays at 10:00 AM at 700 W South Boulder Rd, Lafayette, CO. We'd love to have you join us. Watch the full message or plan your visit.