Step of Faith
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to keep your righteous rules. I am severely afflicted; give me life, O Lord, according to your word! Accept my freewill offerings of praise, O Lord, and teach me your rules. I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law. The wicked have laid a snare for me, but I do not stray from your precepts. Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart. I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end. (Psalm 119:105-112) A Lot can happen in in a year. One year ago, after much toil and spiritual deliberation, Michaelene and I began our new ministry in Murfreesboro, Arkansas. It wasn't expected, or even looked for, but God's call to step out, and trust Him, is one we've always tried to obey. We left our home, friends, and church family in Fairfax, Oklahoma, merely because we felt God was leading us. The odd thing about it all was I never put in a resume, I never searched for another place to go, but after receiving a phone call, and some counseling from an elder of the church we were serving in, decided to simply trust that God was leading, or at the very least opening our eyes to some possibilities. We spent a weekend in Murfresboro, trying to simply keep our eyes open. It was much like our first calling: unexpected. We'd left California in 2013 with all of our possessions loaded in to a 6ft by 4ft trailer and our vehicle with 2 small boys packed in among it to go 1,400 miles from anything we'd ever known to move to our previous ministry. We knew it would hurt. We knew we would have to say good-bye, as we did before, to a church family we loved and served and served alongside. Yet the call was undeniable: God was, once again, calling us to go. Who knew (God did) that in a year, we'd be working together in ministry (Michaelene is the Administrative assistant, but so much more than that for the church!), have a daily devotional which we work on together (even Lyzander has helped to write one), a bi-weekly podcast, and have a global pandemic which would cause us to up our level of intentionallity in loving God and others. Much can happen in a year! Why am I saying all of this? Because following God is not always easy. As a matter of fact, it's not often easy, and though I don't always understand it, what I do know is that the difficulty leads me to rely and completely trust in the Lord. It is by His hand that I can move and act and think and breath, and He does not simply wish me to do so when a BIG decision needs to be made, but ALWAYS. My prayer for this post is that you're hearing God's call, which may not be as I did, to move my entire family for ministry, but to step out in faith, one step at a time, and to learn to completely rely upon and trust in His leading, regardless of the feelings we might have about it. It's scary to step out in faith, but I would not trade it for anything, and I pray that you would step out as well, and see that the Lord has so much more for you when you walk by His word. When we walk with the Lord
In the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way;
While we do His good will,
He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey. Trust and obey,
For there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus,
But to trust and obey. (Trust and Obey:Lyrics:John Henry Sammis (1846-1919) Music:Daniel Brink Towner (1850-1919)
