DownshoreDrift

I had a really interesting experience on Sunday.  I had planned to preach a message regarding what God was doing in our church, our future direction, and how to participate and get involved.  I was going to talk about our identity of spritual depth, authentic relationships, and Kingdom growth.  I had it all prepared - with notes and everything!  But, God seemed to have different plans.

We were ordaining Charley Elgin to the gospel ministry.  He and his wife Martie have been down on the Mississippi Gulf Coast helping with rebuilding homes and lives since right after Katrina.  They are running a camp in Waveland, MS (check out the web site here).  They have been members of our church for several years and Charley was just recently elected an elder, but God has called them beyond our church to impact the world.  Part of what we really care about is sending people out and helping them reach others for Christ.  Well, Charley and Martie were doing that previously through their association with Military Missions Network and our previous pastor, Gary Sanders.  Through that, God positioned them for what was coming next and has used them greatly in representing Christ through relief work in the wake of Katrina.

At any rate, during the ordination and after Charley shared about moving forward with God as he referenced passing through the wardrobe into Narnia in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, I got the strangest sense that God wanted me to preach something different than what I had officially prepared.  This was going to be interesting.

It wasn't like I hadn't studied.  Earlier in the week, I was truly captured by Genesis 11:26-12:9  concerning Terah and Abraham (read post from January 6, Traveling to Canaan - this was the message, in essence).  God was leading me to share from my heart about following God's call and moving on from Haran, the place of seeming affluence that is actually the place of desolation, on to Canaan, the place of humility where we trust in God to lift us up.  I struggled mightily with fear, wondering if I would know what to say or if I would just fall all over my self.  I had no notes on that passage, although I had studied extensively on Thursday, going into the Hebrew meanings of the words Haran and Canaan and reading several commentaries.  What I thought was just personal Bible study and curiosity, turned into the message for the church on the spot.  I surrendered to the Lord, and in a sense lived out what I was saying about trusting God even though I didn't know what exactly was coming next.  As usual, God proved Himself faithful and I feel that I was able to say what He was laying on my heart.

It was very special, because He spoke to me deeply as I witnessed the ordination of this extraordinary couple that was stepping out to trust God.  I was reminded of Abraham's faith as he ventured out and left all to go to the land that God would show him.  He humbled himself enough to quit trusting in his own plan for sustaining his life and he believed God.  Therefore, God exalted him and blessed him so that he would be a blessing to all the nations of the earth.  I wonder if I have the courage and the faith to trust God, even if I don't know where He is taking me?  Or, have I built a house in Haran, the commercial center of affluence, that is comfortable, but not the promised land?  If so, I must strike camp and move on, lest I die in desolation like Terah.  This question is asked of each of us throughout our lives:  Haran or Canaan?  Desolation or Humility?  The answer is the difference between life and death.