From the summit

Wow. Here we are, 1,800 miles west, in Denver. Colorado feels like a world away from Florida.

This morning we took a cog train up to 14,110-foot high Pikes Peak. It's interesting how in the last week we've taken in so many views from summits where you can see everything laid out around you for miles. It's a little hazy, maybe, but you can see. A lot. That's not how I feel about God's plan for me right now. I always have confidence in His plan for us, Josh and me, but my job search here introduces a new reality that God has plans for my ministry and my direction too. I don't feel so confident about that.

When we got here, last Wednesday, I called two churches where I had applied and followed up weeks before. I was anxious and hopeful. Five days went by, and I didn't hear back. I can't say I went through a lot of deep emotions because we have been so busy showing around my parents and getting our stuff moved in, but whenever I had a moment of rest or stillness, I felt overwhelming failure. I felt so much disappointment and so little confidence in myself or my ability to get a job.

On Sunday morning, God spoke these words to me from Psalms:

I am still confident of this:

I will see the goodness of the Lord

in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord;

be strong and take heart

and wait for the Lord.

Psalm 27:13-14

I prayed for patience and confidence, but felt little comfort. I found an administrative assistant position and applied for it, starting to give up on the other two applications I had been so hopeful about. On Monday, I read this in my devotion:

Never consider whether you are of use; but ever consider that you are not your own but His (My Utmost).

I tried to take that to heart. I had felt very clearly two months ago that God was calling me to find a job in ministry, not in journalism. I wrote in my journal that day:

Because I didn't get either of the ministry jobs I wanted, I feel like God has no plan for me. What is God's call to me? God, I know you will act when we have need. Help me to trust You and put my focus on whatever it is that you want me to. I will try to be patient. I will listen for Your call.

Tuesday morning, I got a call from the church where I really want to work. They want to interview me next Wednesday. Now, I know that there is still a good possibility that I won't get the job. I'm trying to prepare myself for that possible disappointment. But if nothing else, I feel that God has lifted me out of the desert that I felt when I hadn't even gotten a call back. Whatever God is planning for me, I feel refreshed enough to be ready for it again.

By faith he obeyed and went

We are moving in six days. The goodbyes are in full swing and the packing is halfway done. The stress of everything to do and remember is starting to feel like a looming presence in my life, and so this morning, thanks to a Circle goodbye staff meeting, I revisited some verses that gave me lots of comfort about the move several months ago.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Hebrews 11:8-10

God does great things when we step out in total reliance on His plan, not on our plans. When I take each moment to turn back to Jesus instead of making logical decisions and then asking God to bless them afterward. I am scared. I am overwhelmed. But I will make my home by faith in a land where God has called me, looking forward to the city designed and built by God.

Where am I going?

Hebrews 11 talks about the faith it took for Abraham to obey God's call to leave home and go to a foreign land. I've been reflecting a lot on our (quickly) approaching move to Colorado, and this Scripture came just in time.

The New Living Translation says,

It was by faith that Abraham obeyed when God called him to leave home and go to another land that God would give him as his inheritance. He went without knowing where he was going. And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise.
Hebrews 11:8-9

My devotional today in My Utmost for His Highest is based on the second part of verse 8: "He went without knowing where he was going." Basically, God didn't lay out the whole plan so that Abraham could weigh his options, consult other experts, and then decide if God knew what he was doing or not. He revealed Himself to Abraham, who then had to make a decision based on faith. When it comes to this move, however, I have been praying that God would show me His plan and work out all the details. Chambers writes, "God doesn't tell you what He is going to do. He reveals to you who He is." Doesn't knowing who God is sound a lot better when you really think about it?

I have been stressed about finding a job in Colorado. I've been searching and applying for more than six weeks now with no leads. It scares me because I feel so powerless to control our success in the next stage of life. How can I make this move joyfully not knowing what my salary will be or what I'll be getting up to do every day? I can do it because true joy comes from going where God leads you, even when you don't know where you're going. Hebrews says in verse 9 that Abraham had to continue living by faith even once he arrived because he was living as a foreigner in a tent. I think that means that things weren't all set up for him there. And, I'm guessing, his previous setup before the move was better than a tent. But rather than deciding that because he was not prospering, he must've misunderstood God, he lived by faith, waiting to see what God's plan was. So often if things don't work out, we just shrug and say, "this must not have been God's plan. God wouldn't want me to go through this." But that's not God's promise.

I almost didn't read on, because I thought that was the gist of it, but then I found the best verse of all. Because really, if you're not living day to day focused on the job, the house, the bills—what are you focused on?

Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.
Hebrews 8:10

I may be moving to Denver, a new city, but my eyes are on a city with eternal foundations, one designed by God. Doesn't that sound like the best place to live?