God on the Move Part 3

So far in this review of God on the Move, I've shared much about God's great victory in our lives and amazing things He did for us.  But could we still sing the same tune when God took away?  During this time period we faced what I would consider some tests from God and a temptation from the enemy that if yielded to, could have destroyed the work of God in our lives.

I already mentioned in Part 2 our loss of a sizable business bid.  Why would God allow that to happen right when we needed the money the most?  We can see now that it was in order for God to pour out His mercy on us, but in the midst of it we couldn't make sense of it.  We were certain God wanted us to move, but it seemed He was not providing our financial means to do so, and in fact taking them away.  But God revealed to us that He would do His work in His way and that our self-sufficiency and pride needed to be broken down.

We were also expecting our third child.  It seemed God's smile of favor was on our lives.  But at 10 weeks we had our first miscarriage.  God  took away. Would we still praise Him?  This was to be the first of three miscarriages and secondary infertility, where God brought us through a journey to understand that just because children are a blessing of the Lord, does not mean that a small family is under His judgement, or that we were bad parents.  We had pridefully assumed we were going to have a big family but God had other plans and some things to teach us in the meantime. (A story for another time.)

As part of the candidating process we were asked to come for a week and meet with individual leaders of the church and their families for evaluation. This may not have been such a big deal except that we had a now 4 year old and 2 year old!  Fearful of their behavior in front of others who were evaluating us was a bit unnerving.  Again, we had to trust that God would take care of that little detail which concerned us greatly.  He did.  Our kids were on their best behavior, even though we knew their capabilities not to be.

Earlier when we failed to receive the youth pastor position at our church in Boulder, we were not the only ones disappointed.  The students in the youth group did not understand or accept it.  They had "fallen in love" with Jeff as their stability during a time when the church went through a season of turmoil.

A nucleus of students, (and parents!), wrote a letter of petition to the leaders of the church requesting that Jeff be their youth pastor, and threatened to leave the youth group if their request was not granted.  They had planned on circulating it throughout the youth group, gaining signatures and presenting it to the church.  Jeff saw the letter and stopped them before it got very far.  He instructed the students to submit to the leadership of the church.  They were treading on dangerous ground by fighting against their authority.  God was leading him elsewhere and Jeff explained to them that we dare not go against what God wills.

I'm so very thankful for God's protection and the wisdom God gave my husband.  How easily we could have fed our pride and built our own kingdom in our own way.  But those kingdoms are always built on sand and dissolve when the tide rolls in.  When Satan dangles his temptations before us, God consistently provides a way of escape.  How thankful I am that my husband took the way of escape and killed the mess it could have turned into.  (And I'm happy to report that God honored their submission to authority by bringing them a youth pastor that fit them perfectly.)

Later when some of those same students graduated and became young adults, they wanted to move out to Junction and be staff for the youth group. Again, Jeff told them no.  He would not allow them to follow him. They needed to follow Christ.  God had moved us away, perhaps for that very reason.

We are so very thankful for the working of God in our lives and for His faithfulness.  As I look back on those years I'm amazed at the things He brought us through.  We were young and thought we knew so much about life, but God had yet so much to teach us.  We are still learning, and God is still moving.  He has not stopped.  However, sometimes when God moves among us we don't even recognize it because we are not attuned to His Spirit.  An ongoing relationship with God is crucial.  I hope I have not missed any of His amazing wonders because I did not have eyes or heart to see.

This concludes Part 3 of the story of how God brought us from Boulder to Junction.  There is more which I did not share as it is too personal in nature. God asks me to "guard my heart" and so I seek to do that.  But hopefully I have shared enough that it can encourage your heart to follow after God's heart.  Through this experience we were drawn to understand some of the ways of God more clearly.  I plan to share some principles of  "What I Learned" from these experiences next time, hoping you will join me.