Wednesday, January 5, 2011

without knowing

A bit from Oswald again this morning "Will You Go Without Knowing." I am bolding the parts that stood out to me.

He went out, not knowing whither he went (Hebrews 11:8)

Have you been "out" in this way? If so, there is no logical statement possible when anyone asks you what you are doing. One of the difficulties in Christian work is this question-- "What do you expect to do?" You do not know what you are going to do; the only thing you know is that God knows what He is doing. Continually revise your attitude towards God and see if it is a going out of everything, trusting in God entirely. It is this attitude that keeps you in perpetual wonder-- you do not know what God is going to do next. Each morning you wake it is to be a "going out," building in confidence on God. Take no thought for your life,... nor yet for your body"-- take no thought for the things for which you did take thought before you "went out."
Have you been asking God what He is going to do? He will never tell you. God does not tell you what He is going to do; He reveals to you Who He is. Do you believe in a miracle-working God, and will you go out in surrender to Him until you are not surprised an atom at anything He does?
Suppose God is the God you know Him to be when you are nearest to Him-- what an impertinence worry is! Let the attitude of the life be a continual "going out" in dependence upon God, and your life will have an ineffable charm about it which is a satisfaction to Jesus. You have to learn to go out of convictions, out of creeds, out of experiences, until so far as your faith is concerned, there is nothing between yourself and God.


There are several times I have felt this way in life: multiple New Orleans trips (to rebuild after the hurricane), Missouri, and a hint of it is in the air these days as my husband and I will be moving in February.
The move is not particularly going to be difficult for us. My concern lies with our neighbors here. The people that live in our building will knock on our door when they have a need: toilet paper, borrowing a vacuum, a ride downtown, prayer... I have had many people tell me (and know this to be true in my head) that God is big enough to take care of them without us. I know this is true, and I also know that the Lord (by no means whatsoever) is restricted to loving others through us. I am thankful for that, because my God is beyond restrictions "He is not a tame lion."
I am still struggling emotionally to get my heart to match up with the things that my head knows to be true; but, I know the Lord is working here. I trust that He will set my heart straight when the time is right. He is all ready beginning to do so. For example, we were praying specifically for one of our dear neighbors, that he would be okay with us leaving and that we could talk to him about it before we leave. Our prayer was literally interrupted by said neighbor knocking on our door.
We just love our neighbors so dearly and have a deep desire for them to know the Lord! God was working in this place before we were here. He will continue to work when we leave. We will not have to cut ties with our neighbors here (we will only be 10 minutes down the road) AND we will have a whole building of new neighbors to love! :) He is good.
Pray for current and potential neighbors, and pray for my heart to be in line with God's will (in this situation and always). Thanks, friends!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I do understand when your head knows something to be right, but your heart is not following. You are right, God will line it up. I am praying for your current neighbors and your future ones. God is so much bigger than we can realize. :) I also pray for you as you make this change. I love you and I know God loves you more. It is exciting to see God at work in you and Scott.

Shadow said...

what a perfect devotional this morning :-) praying for peace my dear bfri.