“Now faith is the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Hebrews 1:1
In 2000, I was living in Michigan and earnestly seeking
God’s direction for my life. At church
one Sunday night I uttered a prayer of exasperation. “God, if you’ve called me to the city then
give me a city.” I did not expect my
prayer would be answered so quickly.
The next Saturday evening, during
worship practice, my Pastor prayed, “Lord, speak to us in our dreams tonight.” At the moment I didn’t realize the
significance of his prayer. But that
night I dreamed I was driving around a city with my best friend. For some reason we didn’t know what city we were
in. The people we asked wouldn’t tell
us. Suddenly a voice from the sky said clearly,
“Dallas, Texas.”
The next morning I awoke with an
excitement inside of me. I opened my
Road Atlas and looked for Dallas Texas for a week, I knew
Texas
Hebrews 11:8 (the “Faith” chapter)
says,
“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to
the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not
knowing where he was going.”
Abraham simply heard God and obeyed Him. In some ways, hearing from God and stepping
out in faith on His Word is the easy part.
The hard part is enduring through the trials, setbacks and disappointments
which will inevitably occur on the journey.
However, if we don’t first respond to God’s call, we won’t know the
opportunities to grow in character that come when His word tests us.
The Scripture says Abraham, “went out, not knowing where he was going.” That comforts me. Sometimes I don’t feel like I know where I am
going. Sometimes I feel like a man in
the dark attempting to follow the invisible hand of God. Sometimes I feel like I’m just along for the
ride. God is in the driver seat, and
He’s only telling me what I need to know (but not everything I’d like to
know). Sometimes it’s a strange feeling,
knowing I’m not in control, but often I want to feel like I have a firm grip on
things. Can you relate with that?
With His word as a foundation, and
the voice of His Spirit as a guide, we keep moving forward step by step into
His purpose for us.
God doesn’t show us all of His
purpose at once. That’s part of the incredible,
exciting adventure of following God. He
leads us step by step in a quest of faith.
Still, at times this journey of faith
can be unnerving. Divine moments of
destiny may be preceded by a season of searching and suffering. And waiting and wondering. We may feel like crying out, “Would somebody
please let me know what’s going on here?!”
In the mean time, much of life is
spent in the seeming triviality of the mundane.
We simply maintain. Thankfully,
our calling is much more significant than the mundane. But real faith is gutted out in the
trenches. Even the mundane can be saturated
by His glorious presence.
During the seasons of waiting God is
building His character in our lives.
Waiting on God in the school of character can be hard. It’s only natural to want to spread your
wings and soar into what you know God has called you to do. However, the time of preparation is of vital
importance. The journey can seem
long. It will try your soul. You’ll be tempted to quit. It’s easy to become weary, impatient,
frustrated, even discouraged.
Thankfully, I’ve found that God injects
into our seasons of waiting sovereign visitations of His Spirit. I’ve had some divine encounters with God that
have marked my life forever. These
experiences have helped me to carry on during the dry seasons, when it seems
like nothing is happening.
God’s promises carry within them His character
and the substance of His life. The
moment we receive a promise we possess it by faith. However, in the realm of the natural it may
take some time for the fullness of the promise to be realized. That does not make the promise less real. God has a perfect time for all things. Our times are in His hands. (Psalm
31:15) While we wait we can judge Him
faithful who has promised. (see Heb. 11:11)
Just excelent!
ReplyDeleteThank you Papa!
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