Deja View - Our April Newsletter

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Newsletter -- It Takes a Team...

(The actual newsletter is a pretty large file so you may be downloading for a little bit!)

 

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The Waiting Game

Yet another newsletter article from last summer that speaks still so true for today...

Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

~ Psalm 27:14, NIV

Is waiting as hard for you as it is for me? There is such a plethora of “learning” that God desires of us and it often comes in those difficult, long, painful times of waiting.

We were told back in February 2011 during our orientation how much God would be teaching us during this time of building our support team. Others who have walked through this before us also shared that this time was so much more about what God would do IN us than what He would do around us. We believed them all, but are now experiencing it first-hand. Here are just a few lessons we've learned so far.

Waiting draws us to a total dependence on GOD not on our own abilities. Psalm 62:5-7 reminds us to wait silently for God alone, for our expectation is from Him. He is our rock, our salvation, our glory and our refuge. We are learning that it’s not about what we can do; it’s about what HE WILL DO!

God will work when we wait on Him. He wants us to wait expectantly on Him and then He will do far more than any of us can think or imagine (Isaiah 64:4).

Funny thought here, but it’s oh so true—God is waiting on us! Isaiah 30:18 says, “But God's not finished. He's waiting around to be gracious to you. He's gathering strength to show mercy to you. God takes the time to do everything right—everything. Those who wait around for Him are the lucky ones.”

Maturity is more important than haste. It’s only through the difficult times that we will grow into full maturity through Christ. We know that there are so many areas where God needs to develop us spiritually so we can withstand all the cultural differences when we get to France. We want to be prepared to serve Him well, “so don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.” (James 1:4)

Instead of worrying, we are to pray & praise God! Philippians 4 reminds us that, “before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”

While we wait we are also told to delight in the Lord, commit our ways to Him, trust in Him, be still and wait patiently (Psalm 37).

So, what are you doing while you’re waiting? Let’s choose to “take delight in the LORD”, and watch Him work in our lives!

Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who wait on the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

~ Isaiah 40

Cleaning is hard work...

On a Monday morning a few weeks back we received word that we would be having an open house the following Sunday afternoon.  Our first thought was, “No way!  That’s completely impossible.  Have you seen our house lately???”  But after a few hours of pondering, fretting, doubting, and even freaking out, we came to the conclusion that we should forge ahead and make it work.

The contractor had been working on our bathrooms for over a month, yet there was still a bit more to be completed, so we received confirmation that he would make it work from his end to have everything ready in time for the open house.  My parents volunteered countless hours (days) to help sort, throw away, clean up and make beautiful the outside and inside of our home.  Steve and I took a day off of work and plowed through as much as possible, followed up with a number of other evenings and all day Saturday finishing up (almost) everything we could imagine.

Sunday afternoon came… the house was (close to) immaculate… interested families walked through…

Monday came.  Little bits of dust began to accumulate again on the top of furniture, more dirty dishes appeared in the kitchen sink, clothes were worn, and beds were slept in...

Funny how life keeps moving forward!  Just like house cleaning, our lives can get messy, unkempt, tussled, dirty and maybe even out of control.  Cleaning is a daily, minute-by-minute act to choose to follow God’s way and not our own.  It seems much easier to become content in our temporary cleanliness, and before we know it we need a thorough cleaning once again.

God takes us through times of testing and refinement to make us more like Christ.  These times are difficult, but we need to hold on and keep our focus on Him.

The testing will refine, cleanse, and purify those who keep their heads on straight and stay true, for there is still more to come.

Daniel 11:34

Cleaning is hard work.  As I was researching verses with “clean” in them, I found that almost all of the verses talk about God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit as the one who does the actual cleaning!  Recognizing WHO the true cleaning agent is in our lives is refreshing and helps us keep the right perspective…

Everything that we have—right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start—comes from God by way of Jesus Christ.

I Corinthians 1:27

As we walk through this season in our lives of building up our team of ministry partners, we can feel overwhelmed.  We were told during our orientation that this time is all about the process that God wants to take us through to effectively prepare us for overseas ministry.  We thanked them and thought we understood what they were saying.  Then a few seasoned missionaries as well as newly on-the-field missionaries also told us that this season is about what God will do in our lives and hearts, NOT about raising our support.  Again, we thanked them.  Here’s a quote from one email:

You have a long and difficult road ahead of you, but it's an amazing and rewarding journey, too. You will be privileged to see God and the Body of Christ move in real ways that most people don't get to see first-hand.

We are now eight months down this road and are just beginning to understand and agree with those who have gone before us and shared.  We are learning that God is purifying our hearts, scrubbing us, stretching us, burning away the chaff, and preparing us for what lies ahead of us.  We are not to be in a hurry.  We are to wait, soak, allow Him to scrub us and fix our broken bones… and then dance and sing His praises!

Just leave, but leave clean. Purify yourselves in the process of worship, carrying the holy vessels of God.  But you don't have to be in a hurry.  You're not running from anybody!  God is leading you out of here, and the God of Israel is also your rear guard.

Isaiah 52:11b-12

Soak me in your laundry and I'll come out clean, scrub me and I'll have a snow-white life. Tune me in to foot-tapping songs, set these once-broken bones to dancing. Don't look too close for blemishes, give me a clean bill of health. God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life. Don't throw me out with the trash, or fail to breathe holiness in me. Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my sails! Give me a job teaching rebels your ways so the lost can find their way home. Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God, and I'll sing anthems to your life-giving ways. Unbutton my lips, dear God; I'll let loose with your praise.

Psalm 51:6-8

So… we continue the “scrubbing” and will praise Him each step of the way!

*All scripture references are from The Message.