God Willing!

In exactly a week's time, God willing Laura and I will be boarding a plane in the San Diego commuter terminal for Los Angeles.  After a short wait, a non-stop 14 hour flight to Sydney awaits us.  When I consider the short trip Laura and I are taking, the wise words of James 4:13-15 ring in my mind:  "Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; [14] whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. [15] Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that."  I do not know what tomorrow holds, but if the LORD wills we shall embark on trip to Australia according to the will of God.

Proverbs 16:9 says, "A man's heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps."  God has the ultimate say for the future of my family and me.  Laura and I were convinced our ministry at Calvary Chapel El Cajon was fulfilled, so I resigned from my position last September and went on a two-month excursion to many of the major cities on the east of Australia.  Upon arriving home, within a day I was offered a great job in a tough construction market.  We felt led to put our house on the market and it sold within two days, only to have the buyers back out.  We wholeheartedly desired God's timing and will to be performed and decided it would be good to fix a few cosmetic things and put the house back on the market.  To our amazement, interest in the house was so strong that we were offered just above our asking price while being withdrawn from the market!  It was as if God was saying, "No, this is the right time.  I'm in control, I'm in charge, and this is all by my design."  I have also been graciously offered the opportunity to preach in Calvary Chapel Sydney on two Sundays, and God-willing will redeem the time to hold forth God's Word.

In reading Isobel Kuhn's book "In the Arena," she said that an important part in the life of a missionary is to prepare for the moment when God's call comes.  So often she and her husband did not know when, where, or how God would call, but they prepared best they could.  The removed as many potential obstacles so when the call came, they were ready to answer with action.  By His grace, God has allowed us to do just that.  When escrow closes (God willing!) next Tuesday or before, the final obstacle will have been removed.  Do we have permanent visas?  No.  Will I have a paying job or a particular ministry?  Don't know.  Do we know where we will be living?  No.  Do we know how we will obtain the support needed to survive?  No.  But we would be foolish to abandon the God who has purposefully, graciously, and masterfully brought us to this point in time.

All that we do not know is nothing compared to the One we DO know.  If you were to corral all the doubts, unknowns, and obstacles together, they would not be a grain of sand in contrast to the omnipotent God I serve.  The breadth of one finger of my God spans the universe, and His power is without limit.  God seeks men to rely upon Him for an everlasting future and hope.  The first part of 2 Chron. 16:9 says, "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him."  If God is eternal, will not He accomplish what concerns me today?  God seeks to show Himself strong - not just to me alone, but to the world.  May this step of faith be a spectacle for the glory of God for all future generations to behold that God may receive all praise.  May all say, "What a powerful, glorious, and wonderful God who would do such things!"