Blog v.02 Entry #1, July 2, 2013

Hello friends,

 

Since you are reading this you already know that my blog has been dusted off and is now back up and running. Why am I posting on this blog again? Because I am headed back to Cambodia! This time it is not for a designated period of time as it was the first time I went; although, like the first time this time is also in response to a calling, a clear leading from God in my heart.

How will I know what God is calling me to do? In a very real sense I feel that I already know the general answer to this: it is to love and follow Him. The particular job that I may get in Cambodia seems less critical to me than that I follow Him. I do not need a title or big paycheck, but I do desire above all else to have a loving, willing, and obedient heart toward God. Jesus Christ was a carpenter and I am sure that He was a very talented carpenter, but we really do not read much or know much about His “work”. I would rather be known for my heart, how I love others, and love and serve my Lord than to be known for my “work”.

I also know that as Believers we are all called to make disciples of the nations. (More and more I am feeling the need to do this in places where the Gospel has not yet reached or been embraced.) Matthew 28:19, John 13:14, 34, 35, and John 20:21 – to do to others as Jesus has done to us. To my knowledge, this move to Cambodia is not about career advancement; nor is it about retiring to a relaxing tropical paradise. It is about going where God is calling me and the “what” as in what “job” seems to me of little importance to this move. But there still will be a “what job” that will need to be answered and to discover that answer and also to receive direction in other areas too I feel led to walk the road to Emmaus. Luke 24 - following the crucifixion of Jesus Christ two men were walking the seven mile road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. As they walked they were talking about Jesus Christ and then were joined by the resurrected Lord, but did not recognize Him. I recently was blessed with having a vision of making this walk both alone and with others in Cambodia. Seven miles is a fairly long walk – at least two hours. To walk for this length and to focus that time on inviting Jesus to be central in the conversation, to seek Him on this walk – how powerful! This is the most important focus I must have before looking for work.

I am confident that I am fully equipped by God because He has breathed His Holy Spirit to live within me – that I should never be alone, and that I would have His encouragement and wisdom to guide me - John 20:22. He has also given us His Holy and inspired Word that we would be instructed, corrected, and fully prepared for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17

I am in a delightful struggle though because in the midst of having all this confidence and trust in God still I know that there is unlimited room for and need of growth and maturity in my faith. In the past few weeks I have reflected often upon and resonated deeply with the passage from Mark 9 verse 24 “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

Mark 11:12-26. Jesus was hungry. The Creator of the Universe allows Himself to become hungry. Then He spots a fig tree in the distance. I would think that He had to know even from afar that the tree was not fruitful because He knows all things. But coming upon the tree He sees that it has no fruit because it is not the season for fruit and so He cursed the fig tree saying that no one should eat from it again and we know that by the next day it had withered because as they disciples and Jesus walked by the tree the following day Peter remembered Jesus cursing the tree and pointed out to Him that the tree was withered. There are many things about this account that peak my interest. Why did He not make the tree fruit? Wouldn’t that be a great miracle, to make an unhealthy tree fruit immediately and out of season? I can just picture the disciples being amazed that a tree would immediately fruit out of season and can also picture the figs being plentiful and the best tasting. But it has struck me that perhaps in addition to this being a lesson for His disciples about faith it was also analogous to our own lives – that not even God will make a bad tree produce good fruit; that we have to be ready when God calls us.

Before leaving Phoenix I was blessed by the congregation at Roosevelt Community Church where I have had the privilege to worship. They asked me to share this adventure with them during Worship Service and then they laid hands on me in prayer. To prepare for this I met with Pastor Vernon at a coffee shop two weeks in advance. After we spoke and got up to leave a man who was seated at the table next to us stopped us and said that the Holy Spirit told him to say something. He said that the Holy Spirit had hold him that I was being called to do something great, that I do not know now what that is and may not learn what it is when I first get to [Cambodia], but that God will reveal it to me. I was greatly encouraged by this and shook this man’s hand and thanked him for sharing this with me. It was not until later when I reflected upon this that I thought not many years ago if this were to happen to me I would have been annoyed by this man – and thought him to be an eavesdropper or loony, but instead God has worked in me in such a way that now I embrace these kinds of conversations and acknowledge how God works His encouragement and Word into our lives in ways that sometimes we do not expect. I feel blessed to now appreciate and embrace that.  

My last thought for this blog entry is a question: how do you perceive God? What are the characteristics that you think of when you think of Him? In Psalm 18 we learn that how we view God is a reflection of our own character. “To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.”

 

I am now without a home, unemployed, carless, and very relaxed and happy. The journey to Cambodia has begun. My brother and I were in San Francisco this past weekend to attend the wedding of our cousin, Erin, to her husband, Hunter.  I am now in Seattle with my family for one week and then next Sunday I will fly to London to meet up with Ruth and her family. Without question I am missing the many wonderful friends in Phoenix who have blessed my life for the past 11 years, but rather than dwell on the sadness of separation, I rejoice with gratitude for having met them and for having such a great time with them; and I look forward with great anticipation for what God is giving me as the path forward.