I completed the draft of our book, Marriage on Mission while flying home from Detroit today! (The crowd goes wild!)
Sandi is writing a response between each chapter, and she hopes to finish soon. Lord willing, the book will be available before Christmas.
I chose this excerpt from the final chapter because so many leaders I coach are entering a new, untested season. Like Abraham, they are leaving the known and familiar for a foreign land, one that will be shown to them along the way.
There are no maps. There are no guarantees.
But, there are promises. And, there is a guide.
From Marriage on Mission, chapter 8:
What does the next chapter of our story look like? To be honest, God has not revealed that to us
yet. Will we continue living in Pawleys
Island after our youngest graduates high school? Will we someday serve on the staff of a local
church again? Will I finally hit my
growth spurt and reach 5’9” before I turn 50?
We simply do not know (except for that last one!).
We don’t know yet because God has placed a certain kind
of call on our lives. We are experiencing
an Abrahamic calling, not a Mosaic calling.
What’s the difference?
When God called Abraham in Genesis 12:1 – 3 he said:
“Go from you
country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show
you. I will make you into a great
nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a
blessing. I will bless those who bless
you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be
blessed through you.”
Here’s what we read about God calling Moses in Exodus 3:7
– 10:
“I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt…So
now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to
bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
We observe:
·
Abraham was told to leave Harran and begin a
journey without a specific destination in mind.
God promised to show him along the way.
(He knew his general destination was Canaan, but God was short on specifics.)
·
Abraham was promised territory, blessing, his
name to be made great, his descendants to form a nation, and to become the
instrument of blessing to everyone on earth.
·
Moses was immediately given a specific
destination and mission. His
assignment? Go to Egypt and tell Pharaoh
to release the Israelites and lead them out of the country.
·
God promised to be with Moses. God also promised that Moses and the
Israelites would worship him on the same mountain where the burning bush
encounter took place. (In other words,
God promised that the mission would be successful.)
These patriarchs are a study in contrasts: Abraham starts
packing his bags while Moses starts making excuses. The reasons Moses gave God for NOT going to
Egypt and chatting with Pharaoh?
1.
Who am I?
Can’t you send someone important?
2.
I don’t even know your name – what if they ask
who sent me?
3.
What if they don’t believe me?
4.
I am not good at speaking in front of groups.
5.
Can’t you send someone else? Anyone?
Pretty please?
Moses became the leader of millions because everyone else
in line took one step backwards and he never got the text!
No, he didn’t want to lead. He tried leading as a younger man, and it was
a disaster. He simply wanted to wander
the backside of the dessert caring for his father-in-law's sheep.
But, God intervened.
God pursued him. Is God intervening
in your life? Do you feel pursued? If so, turn towards him. Embrace him.
Not only does he have something for you to do, he has someone for you to
become along the way. Want to grow into
the best possible husband or wife?
Submit to God’s will and ways and become that person!
A few reflections that are helping us navigate the road
before us:
First, both are legitimate calls of God. Moses was reluctant, filled with doubt and
fear, and totally unqualified in his own mind.
God answered every one of Moses’ objections, made provision for him by
giving him a staff that morphs into a snake and by sending his brother Aaron to
stand with him and communicate to Pharaoh.
There are instances when God lays it out for us and explains on the front
end what he intends to do and how he intends to do it. He patiently answers our questions and leads
us, step by step, into accomplishing his will.
Whatever we need he supplies and whatever he supplies is always enough.
Abraham, on the other hand, had a different
experience. His calling was
oblique. He was told to leave home and
embark on a one-way journey, but several important details were missing. In other words, God left gaps in the
revelation. These “God-Gaps” mean that
we lack the resources within ourselves to complete the mission and guarantee
that if God doesn’t show up and fill those gaps we are doomed to failure. (Moses encountered several God-Gaps as well, but they were not as directional in nature.)
Although Abraham’s calling was more of a “just-in-time”
arrangement, the promises he received were very specific and deeply
profound. It was the promise of millions
of descendants that captured his heart and imagination. He was an old man with no children, desperate
for an heir. If God could make good on
this promise leaving home without a GPS would be a small price to pay.
Sandi and I are getting our marching orders from God
these days on a “need-to-know” basis.
We feel like Israel in the wilderness.
We get up each morning, look out of our tent to see if the pillar of
cloud stayed put overnight (to determine if we are staying or leaving), and
walk outside to collect enough manna for that day. We have no 5-year plan. We do not know where we will be living in 19
months. Our budget is more focused on
daily bread than annual forecasts. The
marriage retreat we are hosting next month could lead to incredible opportunity
or be a complete bust. There is a moment-to-moment
texture to our lives; we have climbed out so far on this faith limb there is no
turning back. When it eventually snaps
we are trusting God to catch us in mid-air.
In this sense we are free.
We are free because we are doing our very best to seek
God and his kingdom as our first priority.
And the promise he gives us in Matthew 6:33 says that as we do that he
will meet all of our needs. So, it’s
really on him. We need to be faithful
with the day-to-day stuff he has asked us to do and trust Him to do all the
heavy lifting.
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