There is a quote that hangs on my refrigerator that I heard back in 2006 at a missions conference. Little did I know how true that quote would become.
Our mission agency told us to go to Texas for an intentional step to the field. This would provide growth in our ability to adapt, and strengthen our family and marriage, before we are displaced out of our comfort zone 4,000 miles from home.
When you take the first steps toward seeking God's purpose for your life, you covertly get enrolled in God's comprehensive training. His ways will meander you through your story rather than a straight line. It is very counter-intuitive or uncommon sense, but as you look back through the fire that you just stepped out of, you begin to see clearly what common sense looks like from His perspective. Faith is never produced on a plane ride or a long bus ride to your destination. Faith is always produced in the fiery trials of our life.
God doesn't cause pain and anguish, that happens from our sin and disobedience, but rather uses the pain and circumstance of our life for His purposes.
Each of us begin the journey on our own. God strips away every prop and scaffold that we used to make ourselves sufficient without Him. Once we have been stripped naked of all our pretense and intelligence, God begins to push value into us unlike we have ever heard before.
Being raised in church, I always heard I am "His masterpiece", but I never really believed it. You see, I was more dependent on the evaluation of others, rather than the One who created me.
So, when my family went to our Candidate Orientation to receive our assignments, Texas was certainly not on our radar. Oh sure, Greater Europe Mission has an office in Texas, so maybe that's why God picked that place, but really?..Texas? Why not England?
Never forget this; God won't always give you what you want, but He will always give you what you need.
Texas was the last place I wanted to go. I would've rather been sent to Zimbabwe or India over Texas, but that wasn't God's plan.
In Isaiah 55:8-9 we hear God tell His prophet not to put his ways or thoughts above the thoughts of God.
So what did we do?...We began to use our own understanding and logic towards obedience to God. We reasoned that God wouldn't want us to just up and go. Besides, our Member Care told us to raise the necessary funds before we go. Why would we defy them?
One day, my wife and I were really feeling a lot of anxiety about all of this. (By the way, this is also a couple of months after we were given our assignment.) So I told her I would go for a long walk and pray, read, or whatever I felt God pressing me to do. Little did I know how God was pressing on my wife to seek from Him.
One of my favorite places to go, is my friends coffee shop. In front of the roastery is a large glass window, with two high-back chairs warming in the streaming sunlight. A perfect place.
After some time, it hit me like a lightning bolt. The title of the chapter I was reading said, "Go until you get a No." I grabbed my stuff and ran out of the shop hurriedly walking toward home. "This is it," I thought. She will read what I read and God will show her just as He had shown me.
I burst into the house, walked into the bedroom, where she was reading, and asked her to read this chapter. I handed her the book, and said "We need to start packing!" I left the room and somehow ended up in front of the television watching a soccer match. Inspiring stuff, I know!!
After a while, she came out of the room and asked if I was ready to discuss the chapter, I had asked her to read. Now I was torn, because the second half of the match had just started, and the game was really good. The more exciting thing was, my wife actually wanted to discuss something I asked her to read. If you know my wife, discussion for her is like painting or folding clothes. She'll do it, but not with much excitement.
I first had to check my pulse to see if I was alive, because this dilemma never presents itself.
When I decided I had better get in there and see what she thought, I went into the room and sat down with a bit of a skeptics emotion.
She began to read me an excerpt from a book she had been reading while I was gone. The story begins with a young woman trying to decide if God wanted her to be married to a young man she had been seeing. She went and spoke to her pastor, and he advised her that God is a green light God. Meaning, if you think you should do something, pray about it, but go in His name. If you are seeking to hear from Him, pray He will give you a red light if what you are doing is out of His will. Watch for yellow lights. This doesn't mean stop, just proceed with caution.
She turned to me, with tears welling up in her eyes, and said; we have to go until we get a no.
So, after a few minutes of shock and awe, we set out on a course for Texas. Only four months after God told us to go, we landed in our new home....for at least a couple of years.
I will finish with a story Jesus tells in Luke chapter 14:
"The life you have always dreamed of, lies in the mission you dread." -Dr. John MarshallWhen my family and I started this journey on mission, we had a determination to serve God overseas. Our plan was to go and begin what we have always dreamed of in London, England, but God always has other plans.
Our mission agency told us to go to Texas for an intentional step to the field. This would provide growth in our ability to adapt, and strengthen our family and marriage, before we are displaced out of our comfort zone 4,000 miles from home.
When you take the first steps toward seeking God's purpose for your life, you covertly get enrolled in God's comprehensive training. His ways will meander you through your story rather than a straight line. It is very counter-intuitive or uncommon sense, but as you look back through the fire that you just stepped out of, you begin to see clearly what common sense looks like from His perspective. Faith is never produced on a plane ride or a long bus ride to your destination. Faith is always produced in the fiery trials of our life.
God doesn't cause pain and anguish, that happens from our sin and disobedience, but rather uses the pain and circumstance of our life for His purposes.
Each of us begin the journey on our own. God strips away every prop and scaffold that we used to make ourselves sufficient without Him. Once we have been stripped naked of all our pretense and intelligence, God begins to push value into us unlike we have ever heard before.
Being raised in church, I always heard I am "His masterpiece", but I never really believed it. You see, I was more dependent on the evaluation of others, rather than the One who created me.
So, when my family went to our Candidate Orientation to receive our assignments, Texas was certainly not on our radar. Oh sure, Greater Europe Mission has an office in Texas, so maybe that's why God picked that place, but really?..Texas? Why not England?
Never forget this; God won't always give you what you want, but He will always give you what you need.
Texas was the last place I wanted to go. I would've rather been sent to Zimbabwe or India over Texas, but that wasn't God's plan.
In Isaiah 55:8-9 we hear God tell His prophet not to put his ways or thoughts above the thoughts of God.
So why did we come to Texas? We don't know where we are going to live. We barely know anyone. How will this effect our kids? Did we here God right?“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts..."
So what did we do?...We began to use our own understanding and logic towards obedience to God. We reasoned that God wouldn't want us to just up and go. Besides, our Member Care told us to raise the necessary funds before we go. Why would we defy them?
One day, my wife and I were really feeling a lot of anxiety about all of this. (By the way, this is also a couple of months after we were given our assignment.) So I told her I would go for a long walk and pray, read, or whatever I felt God pressing me to do. Little did I know how God was pressing on my wife to seek from Him.
One of my favorite places to go, is my friends coffee shop. In front of the roastery is a large glass window, with two high-back chairs warming in the streaming sunlight. A perfect place.
After some time, it hit me like a lightning bolt. The title of the chapter I was reading said, "Go until you get a No." I grabbed my stuff and ran out of the shop hurriedly walking toward home. "This is it," I thought. She will read what I read and God will show her just as He had shown me.
I burst into the house, walked into the bedroom, where she was reading, and asked her to read this chapter. I handed her the book, and said "We need to start packing!" I left the room and somehow ended up in front of the television watching a soccer match. Inspiring stuff, I know!!
After a while, she came out of the room and asked if I was ready to discuss the chapter, I had asked her to read. Now I was torn, because the second half of the match had just started, and the game was really good. The more exciting thing was, my wife actually wanted to discuss something I asked her to read. If you know my wife, discussion for her is like painting or folding clothes. She'll do it, but not with much excitement.
I first had to check my pulse to see if I was alive, because this dilemma never presents itself.
When I decided I had better get in there and see what she thought, I went into the room and sat down with a bit of a skeptics emotion.
She began to read me an excerpt from a book she had been reading while I was gone. The story begins with a young woman trying to decide if God wanted her to be married to a young man she had been seeing. She went and spoke to her pastor, and he advised her that God is a green light God. Meaning, if you think you should do something, pray about it, but go in His name. If you are seeking to hear from Him, pray He will give you a red light if what you are doing is out of His will. Watch for yellow lights. This doesn't mean stop, just proceed with caution.
She turned to me, with tears welling up in her eyes, and said; we have to go until we get a no.
So, after a few minutes of shock and awe, we set out on a course for Texas. Only four months after God told us to go, we landed in our new home....for at least a couple of years.
I will finish with a story Jesus tells in Luke chapter 14:
“Yes. For there was once a man who threw a great dinner party and invited many. When it was time for dinner, he sent out his servant to the invited guests, saying, ‘Come on in; the food’s on the table.’"Then they all began to beg off, one after another making excuses. The first said, ‘I bought a piece of property and need to look it over. Send my regrets.’
You see, we've all been invited to come. If you don't, there may be an empty seat waiting for you, that will be filled by someone else. If you feel God calling you to something greater than yourself,“Another said, ‘I just bought five teams of oxen, and I really need to check them out. Send my regrets.’“And yet another said, ‘I just got married and need to get home to my wife.’“The servant went back and told the master what had happened. He was outraged and told the servant, ‘Quickly, get out into the city streets and alleys. Collect all who look like they need a square meal, all the misfits and homeless and wretched you can lay your hands on, and bring them here.’“The servant reported back, ‘Master, I did what you commanded—and there’s still room.’“The master said, ‘Then go to the country roads. Whoever you find, drag them in. I want my house full! Let me tell you, not one of those originally invited is going to get so much as a bite at my dinner party.’”
"Go until you get a NO"
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