One week today....

Exactly one week from today, 6pm on February 2^nd I’ll be stepping onto a plane bound for Brussels to Mumbai to Hyderabad. I couldn’t be more excited, or feel more prepared. To be absolutely candid… I did not feel spiritually prepared for this trip, even up to a month ago. In the past few weeks God has done a work on my heart, he has shown me amazing things. Now I just can’t wait to go - I can’t wait to be around a faith that trusts God completely, to live with a pastor who talks to Jesus as if he were his closest friend.  I am so excited.  Last week I was supported miraculously within 2 hours of posting a blog that said “I will trust God to provide” and the last 24 hours have been… unreal.  God is teaching me a lesson… a few lessons, that I am so blessed to learn. Number one, and this is one that I really, really love, and it’s not all that new to me- but I’m seeing it very clearly recently.

²⁸ “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  Mtt 11:28-30  

Jesus came, not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it… but we can’t possibly follow the law, this is Gospel, we cannot even follow God in our own strength! (Rom 3: 10-15). Jesus offers us the chance to join him in his yoke; he will cover our shortcomings, our failures. He will carry our burden of the law, and when we reach heaven he will say – “he’s with me”.  How great is our God?  Can we repay him?  No!  All good things are from him, anything we would do to repay him is from him in the first place! So what can we do? We can fall to our knees, and worship him.  And I beg that you would join me in doing this - praise God for his constant care, his provision, his perfection.  

Another lesson, one in trusting God, has really been shown to me in the last 24 hours. Yesterday I got a message from work; informing me that I was laid off due to shortage of work at the factory…  just that morning over breakfast we had spoken about how God led the Israelites into an impossible situation… mountains on both sides, the Red Sea in front, and the Egyptians bearing down on them from behind, with no way out  … God can do all things, but sometimes it’s just so hard for us to put our faith in him …  

I received the news of being ‘laid off’  and immediately felt peace.  I called my boss asking him to reconsider- and he said yes, I could finish the week.  This provided me with great peace of mind, a true blessing. That night I wrote a blog post… but it just didn’t seem ready to go up. Today I got another message saying; no you ARE laid off. Sorry. *  Though this meant a loss of needed income -  immediately,  again,  I had complete peace, a gift from God - and I knew that he would provide, that it’s His will for me to go to India.  The only thing that had really happened here, was that I got the week off … to prepare sermons and spend time with family… what a blessing!  Within ten minutes, God had provided- over and above what I would have made from this week’s work…  

I’m floored…

This feeling in my chest, that brings tears to my eyes… How blessed am I? And how undeserving… I am not a good person…. I’m the worst person I know! But God takes the weight of my sin, he carries my burden… and what can I do…

Praise Him

I have a prayer request; please join me in praising God tonight

For the work He’s doing in my heart

For the mercies he shows me daily

For His provision and confirmation

Oh yeah, and in case you don’t know the story … God who led the Israelites into an impossible situation, also provided the way out – by opening up the Red Sea allowing them to walk across on dry ground.

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*  I had given notice of leaving to go to India and so it was either lay me off,  or let someone else go – they did the right thing – they also felt it would be better on my resume to read: laid off instead of: quit.  My employer has been very good to me!