Even the Wind Obeys the Lord..."Jonah, Jonah, Jonah!" God persisted to call into the storm. "Jennifer, Jennifer, Jennifer!" God beckoned through the lightening. "Follow me"says the Sovereign Lord! Even so, Jonah, a dove with a broken wing, tries to fly far far away from the presence of the Lord to preserve a life of comfort that he could never keep in the first place! Even so, Jennifer, a young lady of 21, attempts to devise a similar plan, a plan to serve God in a way that kept comfort on the throne! Silently, Jennifer and Jonah sleep deeply! The winds began to roar and the waves began to crash and the boat began to break away!! Resolved in the effort to carry out a plan, devised by man, not God, the storm simply rocked Jonah into a deep sleep of denial and deception!! Jennifer, determined to make a plan work, a plan wrought by a lack of trust in the King of Kings, allowed the storm to brew! Tragically, Jennifer ignored the waves as they crashed and slammed her boat, blocked out the thunderous rain, and closed her eyes to the severity of the lightening as it flashed all around the sky! Oh if only we knew how good God really is, we might trust Him! We have such a poor and broken image of what is offered to us that we accept so much less than God's best for our lives! In fact, as we are about to learn from the prophet Jonah, we will even tempt a great storm to keep a poor imitation of God's plan; we will close our eyes and wait out the voice that calls us to the unknown! Oh, if only we understood that there is only life full, abundant and free in complete surrender to His will! Our life is not ours to preserve, or plan! Truly, as the Bible makes plain, we cannot add one single hair to our head or one hour to our lives!! One of my favorite quotes reads, "He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose" (Jim Elliot, martyred missionary). Pamela Reeve collected beautiful quotes from missionaries around the world about the topic of faith. I'd like to share with you two of my absolute favorites, "Faith is the conviction of realities I cannot see or feel." Also, Pamela quotes, "faith is knowing that the kingdom of God is based upon His promises, not upon feelings." One of the reasons I love Pamela Reeve's book is largely due to the fact that I've always treasured the lives of the missionaries! To be sure, I treasure the faith it takes to just say, "yes" to the Lord no matter the cost. Undeniably, and unashamedly, I will boast about the surrender that our Nazarene missionaries display every time they get on a plane and head out to situations unknown and to cultures that are not comfortable. Never, Never take for granted the fact that those God calls, he also equips, but all that to say, the life of the foreign missionary takes great surrender. My Grandfather, Bill Little, now deceased, wrote about the way our Nazarene missionaries spoke to him, "If we could only slice off a corner of the Missionaries' faith! Does God call a missionary because of his faith, or is his faith developed out of a dependence on God? Whichever the case, it is a faith to be envied and a goal to be reached" (Scalpel Please, p.29). My grandfather, volunteered in Manzini, Swaziland as a medical surgeon and really had his eyes opened wide to the sacrifice and the miracle of surrender in each of the missionaries' lives. The truth in Grandpa's quote is that it is a goal for all of us to reach, for God calls all of us to serve in total surrender. Yet, most Christians on the home front don't truly follow that call, whether it's a call to go on foreign soil, or a call to be a pastor, or something else! In fact, many of us do not get out of our boat and say, "yes" no matter the cost. We will read more about my own personal battle in trusting the Lord many blogs from now!! We struggle to trust God whenever it gets in the way of our fallen image of what we thought God was doing!! Yes, there is a trust issue we all must come to terms with if we want our compass set at true north!! We must be willing to stand upon His promise; we must not base anything on sight, but upon He who gives true sight to us, God! Let's close with a Scripture, and a question!
Matthew 19:19-21
New International Version (NIV)
19 honor your father and mother,’[a] and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’[b]”
20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
Wow!! I have a question for you and for me..for the missionary and for the layman...What dream...or possession are you still trying to keep with you on earth...?? What do you need to send into God's hands, in heaven?? Truly, when we do that...we will say, "yes" to the Lord and follow Him to the ends of the earth..where He will be with us forever!!
20 “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
Wow!! I have a question for you and for me..for the missionary and for the layman...What dream...or possession are you still trying to keep with you on earth...?? What do you need to send into God's hands, in heaven?? Truly, when we do that...we will say, "yes" to the Lord and follow Him to the ends of the earth..where He will be with us forever!!
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