With much prayer, a plan unfolded

As many of you may have read in my last blog God had begun speaking to us about how content we were here in our home, our church and our lives…….. We knew coming back from our vacation God was going to ask us to move…….. We were just not really certain or receptive to where He wanted us to go until we got home and began seeking the Lord. It took me a long time to blog about our trip because one of the things I WAS SO GENUINLY GRATEFUL for was that we got to VISIT Florida but we didn’t have to live there. After all, if it is 80 degrees and 50% humidity in February, summer has got to be HORRIBLE for us who have for so long ENJOYED our DRY HEAT! I was all open to move and go where God wanted us to go until I heard the answer…….. Places I had in mind were anywhere out of the USA, Montana, Idaho, or some other rural northern hemisphere state where there are visibly 4 seasons……. Somewhere either so far that I couldn’t even fathom what an adventure God would have in store or moving so close that it wouldn’t feel like we had moved that far away at all. Ya know, so close I would still get to see the family a couple times a year and so on. It was when I began to blog how grateful I was to not live in the beautiful state of Florida, God began to change my heart. What this more had to do with was feeling like a ’fish out of water’ while there or that because of our income bracket we were not good enough to live in a place such as this. The people I thought were ’unreachable’ due to their worldly wealth & financial status were EXACTLY the people God wanted for us to reach out to! I would argue with the Lord and explain (as if I ever really explain anything to God) do you realize this would mean a huge cut in pay? DO you realize how long it has taken John to get to where he is at in his position at work? He is committing career suicide! Do you realize the cost of living is much higher there than it is here? How can we take a pay cut and do the higher cost of living? On and on went the list of endless reasons WHY the whole thing didn’t make sense, why we couldn’t/shouldn’t move to such a place! It was then that I had a bit of clarity. Remember back when you first became a Christian and you KNEW God spoke to you because it wasn’t something you could have dreamed up yourself and besides that it didn’t really make sense unless it WAS God? Remember the times where you were so broke that you HAD to depend on the Lord and PRAY HARD for His provision to come through because there was no plan B in the savings account? Light bulb moment! Then God gave me this scripture in Nehimiah 4. The first part goes like this:

1 But it so happened, when Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, that he was furious and very indignant, and mocked the Jews. 2 And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, "What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Will they revive the stones from the heaps of rubbish—stones that are burned?"3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and he said, "Whatever they build, if even a fox goes up on it, he will break down their stone wall."

What I learned from this part is DON’T MOCK, COMPLAIN, MUTTER about WHAT THE LORD IS DOING! Don’t question and already decide that His way will lead to failure. DO NOT assume circumstances should be logical and if they don’t add up, God will give you clarity! Don’t think that a lack of logic can hinder from doing the Lord’s business! There is a reason why God is called the hound of heaven!
Here is the second part:
4 Hear, O our God, for we are despised; turn their reproach on their own heads, and give them as plunder to a land of captivity! 5 Do not cover their iniquity, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before You; for they have provoked You to anger before the builders. 6 So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. 7 Now it happened, when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the gaps were beginning to be closed, that they became very angry, 8 and all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion. 9 Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God, and because of them we set a watch against them day and night. 10 Then Judah said, "The strength of the laborers is failing, and there is so much rubbish that we are not able to build the wall." 11 And our adversaries said, "They will neither know nor see anything, till we come into their midst and kill them and cause the work to cease." 12 So it was, when the Jews who dwelt near them came, that they told us ten times, "From whatever place you turn, they will be upon us." 13 Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the openings; and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. 14 And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, "Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses."

I know it is long but it was meaningful……. God is merciful and although I was muttering and complaining about His plan he was going to forgive me and take care of us! Basically God was letting me know that while I didn’t need to know all the circumstances, HE was the one in charge of the details. This passage also came as a warning that was kinda scary. Following Him through this journey was not going to be easy. We were going to get attacked……. Not just attacked but that Satan was going to try to use every tool he had to divide our family and keep us from doing what the Lord wanted us to accomplish down there! It was quite descriptive here how heavily under fire these people were! Jesus commanded them to surround themselves with prayer and to be on guard with their swords by their sides. In this I was coming to grips that we needed to depend of God FAR MORE than we have in our comfy spot but to be completely covered in His spirit. Not being unified in our walks with the Lord, daily spending time in His word and filling ourselves with the Holy spirit constantly would lead us to falter in completing the task He has set before us. The Israelites had a plan and as long as the listened to the Lord HE would give them the man power to build the wall!
15 And it happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work. 16 So it was, from that time on, that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows, and wore armor; and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah. 17 Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. 18 Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me. 19 Then I said to the nobles, the rulers, and the rest of the people, "The work is great and extensive, and we are separated far from one another on the wall. 20 Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us." 21 So we labored in the work, and half of the men held the spears from daybreak until the stars appeared. 22 At the same time I also said to the people, "Let each man and his servant stay at night in Jerusalem, that they may be our guard by night and a working party by day." 23 So neither I, my brethren, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me took off our clothes, except that everyone took them off for washing.
God had multiple tasks He wants for us to accomplish down there; each person in the family will have a task. While the work will be hard, tiresome and maybe even seemingly impossible at first if it is designed by God He will give it purpose and see it through to fit His purpose. As one of our dear friends said when we were laying out the details of this journey "Even if only one person gets saved as a result of this move, will it be worth it?"

Some other scriptures God has been giving to John are as follows:
Matthew 9: 36 But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. 37 Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. 38 Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."
Exodus 3: Basically Moses is arguing with God about leading the Isrealites out of Egypt and telling God it would be impossible…… cue burning bush!

John 4: 34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. 35 Do you not say, ’There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest! 36 And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 For in this the saying is true: ’One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors."

Acts 13-15…..

WE are not sure what our purpose will be down there besides that we are to be witnesses of Christ. You see, my God knows me too well! The moment HE begins to give me details I figure out way to MAKE IT happen rather than going with the flow and allowing GOD to do things through me! I tend to run a few steps ahead of the Lord when I have too much information so this lack of info makes me more reliant on Him and His will which is a VERY good thing. John has put in several applications down there. He would really like to go out on the road to be a cop….. This is something he has dreamed of doing for a long time now and each time he has asked God about it God has said no. So, if this is another no please pray that his heart can receive it. He knows that wherever God has for him to work, it will nothing more than a place of tent-making in an effort to lead people closer to the Lord and not for personal fulfillment/gain.
Timing…… well God has been telling us the time is NOW to put our house on the market so we are busy getting it prepared and we are excited to see what God will do. If it takes a perfect! while to sell at least I will get to enjoy all the hard work I put into painting! :o) We will not move down there until John has landed a job so until then if you could just be praying that God’s timing would be.