The Cloud Moves

In early January we met with a pastor of or church to discuss the calling God had placed on our lives. In his wisdom he asked good questions like; where will you go? What will you do? How will you serve? And how long? We did not have any answers to these questions. I felt complete inadequate. So I made a list of all the skills and strengths that we have as a family, for myself, Jennifer, and even Lucy. I began praying over the list and asked God to “go before us.” In Exodus Moses asked the same question of God as the children of Israel wondered around the wilderness.  

Then Moses said to him, "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.” Exodus 33:15

That was the prayer. How can we go anywhere or do anything unless you go with us?

In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out—until the day it lifted. So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels. Exodus 40:36-38

I asked God to be my cloud. And unless I see the cloud go I will stay put.

We had contacted a couple of mission agencies just to see what opportunities were out there. One day while praying over the list the phone rang. It was Missionary Ventures. They said we have this urgent need in Peru. Over the next couple of days we talked to them and found out more about the need there and I began to realize that the needs in Peru were exactly the same as the list I made of our skills. Crazy. The cloud was moving.

Again I went back to the list and began to pray over it, asking God to go before us. Then He revealed to me, he had already gone before us. Before I ever knew it. He had been preparing us for years! My mechanical and problem solving skills. Jennifer’s knowledge of nutrition and maternal care. Lucy’s innate desire to love children. Wow!

It is amazing to think that we serve a God who can prepare us for a task without us even knowing. What has God prepared you for?

~Josh

Full Surrender

Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. –Romans 5:3-4

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. –James 1:2-3

What is my purpose in life? As I struggled through the summer of 2014 this was the question I asked. Sometimes I asked it searching for meaning and sometimes I asked as if what is the point?  That was a difficult summer of overcoming difficulties in my life and mourning the loss of a child. But finally around September I could stand tall and say the purpose of my life is to bring glory to God.

Our purpose as Christians is clear, we are to glorify God to all the ends of the earth (Colossians 1:27). The word of God itself brings glory to Him and is filled with examples of how we can glorify Him. We were created in His image and we were commanded to be fruitful and multiply, this alone is expanding His image throughout the earth. From the plagues of Egypt to sending Jesus Christ, the word is full of God showing His glory to all people. But we were not commanded to keep His glory to ourselves but instead to spread it throughout the earth. The word says we are to be sent (Romans 10:13-15) to preach the word (Mark 16:15) to all the nations (Matthew 28:19-20).  This is not optional but a commandment to every Christian. We are to spread His good news of all the things He has done to all people for His glory.

In October Jennifer asked me, “now what do we do?” We had got through the tough times of the summer and in need of direction. We decided to take three months and pray for God to reveal his will to us. We had no idea where that would lead. We thought he would lead us to adopt or try for another child. But this was the first time we had truly surrendered. The first time would could honestly say “God, what do you want to do?” with no preconceived notions. Normally when we would seek his direction that would mean we already had an idea for our direction and we wanted him to confirm it but not this time. For the first time all bets were off and we could honestly say “God, what do you want from us? Name it. We’ll do it.”

What an amazing place to be in life when you can completely surrender your will to His. But I had no idea where that was heading and I could have never guessed. After three months of seeking and prayer he made it clear that our direction was missions. I was floored. What? Missions? That makes no sense. I’m not equipped for that. I have no skills for that. I don’t know the first thing about missions.

He would soon reveal to me that he had equipped me. That I had skills. And that he would teach me and lead me where I needed to go. He was only beginning to do some really cool stuff. 

The challenge is have you ever fully surrendered? Have you ever asked God, "what do you want to do?" with no preconceived notions?  When we deny ourselves then God can work. 

Then he said to them all: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." Luke 9:23

~Josh