LEAPS OF FAITH. They do
not always feel good, nor do they always look pretty. But there are rewards for making the decision
to jump, for without that action nothing would ever happen. Even the slightest movement takes a decision
to change something about our posture.
And when God aligns us with something more significant than slight –
sometimes our leaps of faith take a push from God Himself! Looking back one wonders if we would have
jumped, had there been no push! In these
past three weeks we have been blessed with vision to view life from an entirely
different vantage point than usual.
Since our lives were turned upside down nearly seven years ago now,
we’ve written a new definition for the word “normal”. Wasn’t it normal to work from dark in the morning
until dark at night? Wasn’t it normal to
come home and engage in ministry work and preparation and then your own
responsibilities and family time as the night wore on – until knowing that you
must fall into bed for at least a few hours – before beginning all over
again? Wasn’t it normal to claim God’s
promises in His Word and fully expect that He would redeem your three hours of
sleep and multiply them into six or nine?
It just seemed normal that while it was kind of tough to jump out of bed
when awakened by the rude sound of the alarm on our cell phone, the moment our
feet touched the floor, God showed up and literally poured supernatural
strength into our bodies, minds, and souls!
It seemed wondrous to begin the new day all filled up, and somehow there
was that sense that we were running on heavenly fuel. Our world was one we had not known
before. There was no steady routine,
just topsy-turvy schedules that brought delight in God-adventures and
opportunities that graced our every day.
In the first several months of our journey when we had no church to
pastor, God gave us the marketplace as our pulpit. We never dreamed that a pulpit could look the
ways that ours did in the years to come!
These are just some of the places God gave us pulpits: behind a retail counter ringing up purchases;
unloading merchandise off the truck in the freezing cold until our fingers
cracked and bled; mowing lawn and trimming shrubs and trees and kneeling on
rocks pulling weeds from flower gardens in sweltering heat; repairing
everything imaginable that can break; cleaning toilet stools until we lost
count; mopping floors and vacuuming; painting walls with everlasting gallons of
paint; pushing the carpet cleaner back and forth until the job was done; filling
icy-cold coolers with food products and beverages; shoveling and snow-blowing
sidewalks and entrances in sub-zero temps until you thought your fingers were
no longer attached to your hands; and yes … there were even more pulpits! What made every one of these unusual pulpits
so precious is that we were able to preach the message of Christ through the
love we felt for the people we served – through the words that flowed naturally
from our heart and mouth as we chatted with them – through godly choices –
through all the reasons we had to smile – and through what others described as
our endless energy! You see, when
circumstances thrust you into a long, dark, dry wilderness … the sign of life
and light within your soul shines ever so brightly against the contrast. God IN you in ANY surrounding – makes all the
difference and preaches a powerful message with no church in sight! And the amazing thing is that God gave us the
pulpit at Elevation North right alongside all of the other ones in the
marketplace. That is, until we sensed
there was a changing of seasons coming into our lives. For several months now, we knew that God was
saying it was time to return to more ministry and less marketplace – but how? We searched for jobs with less hours – and
each time God slammed the doors shut very abruptly! Finally, with much pain and deep struggles,
God made His plan clear: not less
hours. No hours! When we heard Him saying to give up the main
job and trust Him for provision, all turmoil and conflict ebbed away. God’s peace flooded o’er us, settled in, and
came to stay! To date, God has provided
“some” of what we need – but not “all”.
Still, we are at peace. We know
He will complete what He has started. He
pushed. We leaped. And we know we can trust the One who is faithful
beyond all comprehension. He will do
it! And we will tell the story, so He
gets the glory! (I think there’s a book
in here - somewhere!) I am thrilled
beyond words for my pastor-husband who now gets to pursue more fully the
precious calling he received from God as a teenager. I am honestly excited that we are gifted with
a bit more time to stop and smell the roses - and share that fragrance with our
loving, supportive family who has sacrificed so much and stood in the gap for
us all this time. And with this change
in our season of life, comes a long-awaited for season in the life of our
church. God is providing open doors for
us to soon be able to worship in a place we can call “home” ~ after our
extended interim journey this summer.
Friends, we are almost there. We
can “see” it by faith! It’s been a long
time coming, but God’s timing is implicit in its perfection. He knows the end from the beginning – and
every step in between! Has He ever left
us? A thousand times “NO”! He has been closer than we could have
imagined, and now after the push, we can still smile because we know it was for
our best – and for His glory! It doesn’t
get any better than that, dear ones!
Don’t miss out – leap forward with us in these exciting end-time
days! You’ll be glad you did!!!
REMEMBER . .
.
“God takes
care of all who stay close to Him.”
Psalm 31:23
Serving Christ Joyfully . . .
Pastor Doug and Debbie
