Monday, December 24, 2012

this will be the sign to you

God calling Moses to the mission field has been my go to reading when I am questioning myself at all. A few months ago, one of my best friends read Exodus 3-4 to me, replacing Moses with my name and Egypt with Kenya. I relate a lot to how Moses felt as He received His calling from God to go and rescue the Israelites from Egypt. And these 2 versus spoke clearly as I have been asking God for a sign regarding my ministry in Kenya.

“But Moses said to God, ‘Who am I, that I should go to Pharoah and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?’
And God said, ‘I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.’” –Exodus 3:11-12

From my study bible, sign is defined as “A visible proof or guarantee that what God had promised he would surely fulfill.” A miraculous sign(Ex 4:8) is defined as “A supernatural event or phenomenon designed to demonstrate authority, provide assurance, bear testimony, give warning, or encourage faith.” That led me to Gen 15:8 (from the note from Ex 3:12) where Abram says, “O Sovereign Lord, how can I know…”

Which then led me to think, where can I go to find out the end of all these stories, to get a good idea of how God viewed their faith in these callings. Hebrews 11 of course!

By faith Abraham…was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful… (v11)
By faith Moses…regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ…because he was looking ahead to his reward. (v26)

And then a song came to mind, Step by Step (by Michael W Smith)
I will seek you in the morning, and I will learn to walk in your ways and step by step you lead me, and I will follow you all of my days.

The past couple weeks, I have been seeking God about a possible change in regards to ministry in Kenya. (More details to come) But I have been praying consistently for God to reveal His will to me, that He would speak clearly, that I would be listening and that He would direct me to his perfect will. I have no doubt that God will bless whatever decision is made, but every step so far on this journey has been so evidently clear that I felt He should answer in the same way. But Saturday morning as I opened up my Bible to Exodus 3, verse 12 caught my attention.

this will be the sign to you…that I have sent you…when you have brought the people… you will worship God on this mountain.

this will be, future tense, after the event, you will know by this sign, that I have sent you, because you will worship me. Moses had no guarantee before going to Egypt, he got no sign from God (other than this encounter) that this was what he was suppose to do. And I think it’s kinda comical that God tells Moses that He will get a sign from God, but that sign will be Moses worshipping God on that mountain AFTER Moses completes the task! Did you catch that? the sign, will be Moses himself worshipping God, and He won’t get it til after the mission is accomplished!

Which is where the song comes in, it reminded me that God doesn’t usually give us the big picture, He asks us to walk by faith, step by step, leading us and all He asks is that we will follow.

I couldn’t help but stop and sing that song to God as I felt He was finally answering my prayer. And He didn’t answer it in the way I thought He would(of course!), with flashing road signs saying “THIS WAY!!” but in a sense I did get my answer, just walk, step by step, in faith, follow me where I lead you. I know in a few years, when I look back at this time, I will probably laugh at myself for not seeing God so clearly, but I also know in a few years, I will look back and worship God with a whole new perspective as He is refining me through this process. My life is literally in His hands, I will continue to walk step by step to Kenya, what He chooses to do from there, only He knows.

Jesus,

I am so grateful for you, for the relationship that I have with you that allows me to have access to God the Father. I thank you Holy Spirit for the way you illuminate your Truth so that I can know God better. I thank you God for the plan that you have for my life, the desire to use little me to accomplish plans so much greater than I could ever begin to imagine. I pray Lord God that you would continue to walk me step by step, that you would help me not to walk ahead of you, but that we would stay in stride together, through this life. I am excited for all the amazing ways you will show up, just like you did for Moses so long ago, to show not just myself, but those around me, just how real and active you are. I thank you God for the people you have brought into my life who provide so much encouragement, who you use to speak truth to me, and are desiring to be apart of this journey. To hear the words, “you are our favorite missionary” totally confirms in my heart and that you are working not just in my life, but in so many around me.

Thank you Lord Jesus for the way you are working in people’s hearts to give financially to this ministry. It is so encouraging to talk with people about how You are asking them to give, and being able to answer their questions so that You can be glorified. I pray Lord Jesus that you would continue to move in big ways, that you would continue to confirm your hand on this ministry and move and that every step that is made, I can give you the glory each and every time! I praise you for where I am today, for the team of people who are praying for me, for this ministry, and for the kids and families in Kenya. I praise you because you are God, Holy, Powerful, Sovereign, Almighty, and yet you know me by name, you created me for this purpose and you are personally working in my heart and life to fulfill your great plans. I pray Lord Jesus that you would continue to make known your ways, step by step, and that I would by faith, surrender each day to your plans.

In your mighty name I pray,
Amen

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