AHA: Awakening. Honesty. Action. is the most recent book by Kyle Idleman, teaching pastor at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY. He states that we draw closer to God and change our lives for good by awakening to the reality of our true spiritual condition, assessing ourselves and our need for Jesus with raw honesty, and taking action through obedience to God’s commands and following Christ’s example. The book is based on the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
Pastor Idleman begins Chapter 1 (“The Distant Country”) of AHA by noting that you can go into any bookstore and finds all manner of self-help books. Promised change is only a few steps away. Yet, as the author logically notes, if just one of those books worked, the rest of them wouldn’t be necessary! Even though we know something is wrong and we know what to change, if self could help, we’d have fixed our problem long ago.
AHA, Pastor Idleman stresses, is the antithesis of a self-help book: “This journey begins with a rejection of your self’s offer to help.”
Rather than self-help, we need to be asking for God’s help. Pastor Idleman defines aha this way- “a sudden recognition that leads to an honest moment that brings lasting change.”
At a pivotal time, one’s life collides with God’s Word and the Holy Spirit’s power, and everything changes.
Today’s question: Has the desire for self-help superseded the desire for God’s help during your desert, transition time? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “The Distant Country”
