risk, freedom, & the will of God

Woody preached today and, as usual, I felt convicted and challenged by his words, especially because of how much they fit into what has preoccupied my mind for the last month.

For those of you who know, my job with Habitat will be ending in the middle of September. As I’ve been thinking about what to do after my term ends, and exploring the options before me, God has put Thailand on my heart again. Maybe it never really left. One of the five organizations I was looking into seems most to fit. This is still the only option that is left on the table, as far as opportunities to go to Thailand. As I’ve prayed for the last five weeks, since learning of it, I have felt a strange peace and go-ahead from God. So I have gone ahead and continued to pray and applied to serve with this organization and invited my mentors and pastors to come and pray with me. More recently, I have been reading several books about the organization/their work and have been inviting important people from various parts of my life to share their impressions and insights, and to pray also with me. Every person who I have shared this opportunity to serve in Thailand with has had similar reactions: This makes so much sense for you; while this will be hard, there is no reason you should not move forward with this.

Woody challenged us today in the sermon with a passage from 1 Samuel about Jonathan. When Jonathan surprises and routs the Philistines in chapter 14, he acts in faith, believing that “it may be that the Lord will act for us.” When we ask “what is God’s will for my life?”, we often mean that we want clarity and direction and a path for God to point us to. (God only knows how many times I have prayed for these things.) But God has already given us 90% of what we are supposed to do in scripture. Loving our neighbors and practicing hospitality and clothing the naked and feeding the hungry and giving generously and cheerfully and seeking peace and working for justice are components of the Christian life, and God’s challenge to us all. The rest is detail. Perhaps it is the freedom that follows that sometimes makes me hesitant, but often I just want God to give me directives; it’s easier and less messy and I want to always stay in God’s will. This, sugarcoated, is fear. As Woody mentioned in the sermon, in being afraid of the freedom God gives us instead of running with it and taking risks, we can get comfortable with doing nothing and making a habit of it. Scripture shows us again and again that when we draw near to God, God changes us and transforms us and changes/transforms our desires. In this way, we can trust the passions and desires in our hearts, and they can be like compasses for us when we aren’t sure of the details of God’s will for our lives.

Jonathan didn’t sit around waiting for God to give him a specific direction--although God sometimes works like that. Instead, he acted on faith and entered into motion. Woody also reminded us that God waits for us to be on the journey because God can only steer us when we are already moving. We can only guard our hearts when they are in action. Like bikes, if we are laying on our sides and are not in motion, God cannot steer and direct and lead us. We are guided as we go. God helps us and gives us direction as we act and work on what we know already about what we are supposed to do.

And so, I am going, and God is guiding, and I will continue to go as God guides. I may end up in Thailand for the next three years because of this. I may end up in Thailand for the rest of my life because of this. This freedom no longer intimidates me; it energizes me and challenges me to take a stab at living a life worthy of the calling I have received. Where is God leading and how and to what? God knows how little I know. But then--it’s all detail.

More on this to come...