I set My rainbow in the
cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.
—Genesis 9:13
{CHAMBERS} “Waiting for God to act is fleshly unbelief. It means
that I have no faith in Him. I wait for Him to do something in me so I may
trust in that. But God won’t do it, because that is not the basis of the
God-and-man relationship. Man must go beyond the physical body and feelings in
his covenant with God, just as God goes beyond Himself in reaching out with His
covenant to man. It is a question of faith in God— a very rare thing. We only
have faith in our feelings. I don’t believe God until He puts something
tangible in my hand, so that I know I have it. Then I say, “Now I believe.”
There is no faith exhibited in that. God says, “Look to Me, and be saved…”
(Isaiah 45:22). When I have really transacted business with God on the basis of
His covenant, letting everything else go, there is no sense of personal
achievement— no human ingredient in it at all. Instead, there is a complete
overwhelming sense of being brought into union with God, and my life is
transformed and radiates peace and joy.”
{ELGIN} You may have heard
the saying “Those who can’t do, teach.” Well, that may be true for some, but
there are many teachers who are masters at their discipline and have chosen to
teach others in that discipline, communicating their skills and knowledge they
have gained in “the real world” in the
classroom. In the same way, I could not
write the words that I do, had I not experienced what I write about. That is the nature of discipleship. I can study books that tell me about flying,
but unless I actually have flown, it’s all hypothetical. So …. As I read Chambers this morning … I was
reminded of our faith journey. God has
called Martie and me to a life that is unfettered from conventional
wisdom. In other words, we do things
that don’t make sense to “reasonable-rational” men … that is if you want a
secure retirement and to live the American dream. Nothing wrong with those things .. that is
unless they are the source of your saying “no” to God. If that is the case, they are stumbling blocks
and should be tossed aside.
The most important question
for a Christian to answer is .. “Do I trust God?” or “Do I trust something else .. like my 401K,
more?” Right now we are in Texas. I left a good job … with no guarantee that I
would have enough money to pay my bills in a month. We lost our health
insurance … with no assurance that Medicare would be sufficient to meet our
health needs. We left our family .. again
… with no assurance that we would ever enjoy the family dynamics that all
families look forward to. We are living
in a travel trailer that rocks as the wind whistles around it. But wait .. there is more! We came to Texas because God said “Go”. The people here are wondering where the volunteers
are. As if it’s the volunteers that will
“save the day”. They seem to be waiting
for us to get started … and some days .. we are waiting for the same thing … It
is in that context that I read Chambers this morning … and heard the Lord ask me,
“Do you trust Me? There is a song by
Mercy Me, “Even If”. “They say sometimes
you win some Sometimes you lose some. And right now, right now I'm losing bad. I've
stood on this stage night after night (written these BLOGS day after day) Reminding
the broken it'll be alright. But right now, oh right now I just can't It's easy
to sing (write) When there's nothing to bring me down But what will I say When
I'm held to the flame Like I am right now. I know You're able and I know You
can Save through the fire with
Your mighty hand But even if You don't My hope is You alone.”
Abraham followed God and did
not know where he was going. He trusted
God without seeing. Life is like
that. We should not presume that we can
get ahead of God. Martie and I are in the center of His will for us, of that we
are confident. We are doing what He
called us to do. Worldly consequences
are not the measure of the “rightness” of the call. If things don’t seem to be going the way you
thought they would … will you still follow God and walk in obedience to what
you “do” know? People asked Noah where the rain was. God was holding it back. We don’t know what
will happen tomorrow, but we must be obedient to what we know today. And when we are asked … will volunteers come …
our answer will be “Bondye Konnen” – God Knows.
Si Bondye vle – God willing, they will come – or God will provide in
some other way. But even if they don’t,
right now, we must rest in our knowledge of God’s faithfulness.
I often use Proverbs 3:5-6 as
an encouragement .. but wanted to share the wisdom that is wrapped around those
verses … (Proverbs 3:1-8) “…. do not
forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong
your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity. Let love and
faithfulness never leave you; bind them
around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win
favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own
understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths
straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.
This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones."
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