Tag Archives: Moses

Surprised By Grace

Posted by Amy W in Life Lessons From Church Planting, women in ministry and tagged with , , , , , , ,

In about a week, my church will celebrate it’s one year birthday.  Though there was a growing team of people meeting for a little while longer than that, it was a year ago that they had the “launch service” – the service that marked the official start of the church.

I was there at the launch service – my first time at this new church.  I had been praying for changes in my life and, more specifically, a new church when a flyer showed up at my door.  I went that first week and have been going ever since.

This past weekend we had our church’s first Woman’s Retreat.  We had space for 30 women to go, and after some last minute cancellations and fill-ins we arrived at the site with 29 women + 1 speaker.

Even though this was my first ever retreat for women, I ended up being part of the planning team.  My responsibility was to prepare a prayer room (which also meant encouraging the prayer team ladies to sign up and help pull something together) and then at the last minute was asked to be a discussion group leader  when another was unable to fill the slot.  Immediately after the first planning meeting, the prayer team started praying for the event and for the ladies that God would be bringing this weekend.

Leading up to the retreat, our prayer team came up with some ideas for the prayer room and we scrambled together supplies.  By 3 PM Friday, we were at the house.  We walk in the door only to realize that the prayer room is an open space just off the main entrance filled with a hot tub and exercise equipment.

As we started processing the difficult situation before us, I thought of a dear friend who loved the quote, “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade” and encouraged the team that we can still make this space work if we get a little creative.  We moved some of the exercise equipment out of the room, we rearranged the remaining pieces, plugged in a few night lights, and found 2 dividers to create “walls” where none existed.  When the prayer room opened that night, it actually turned out to be a pretty decent space.  Once we were done setting up, the prayer team walked the entire house praying over spaces, rooms, and each attendee by name.

Later that night the guests arrive…and God starts to work.

Over the course of the weekend I saw girls engaged in conversations, connecting, laughing, and relaxing.  We were encouraged and challenged by our wonderful speaker.  In discussion groups, the women opened up and “got real” about what was going on in their life and what God was (or wasn’t) doing.  Tissues went flying, we cooked too much food, and I think we even got a complaint called in to the local authorities because we were being “way too loud” during worship.

Sunday afternoon, I was the last person to use the prayer room.  I sat there praying and praising, feeling completely overwhelmed by what God had done:

  • Women who I know have been seeking community and feeling like they “don’t fit in” sincerely connected with at least 1 new person, if not more on this trip.
  • Several women had very deep and personal encounters with God…the Holy Spirit was so evident by Sunday morning’s worship session that you could taste it.
  • I “peeked in” on the prayer room several times over the weekend to see women praying, having their devotional, and partaking in the prayer room activity.
  • We didn’t have Sunday morning discussion groups, because by the end of the talk and worship time, 2 women had decided that they wanted to get baptized.  Everyone ran out to watch and celebrate on the beach together.  One of these women gave me the honor to be one of the two to go in the water to baptize her.

By Sunday night I found myself overwhelmed again as I saw the connections and comments flying across the walls of the ladies’ Facebook pages.  (oh the movements of His hand may I never miss…)

I think it’s funny to know God and have faith in God, but then find ourselves surprised by what He actually does in different situations.  Months ago I confessed how scared I was that I might not be able to do what He had called me to do.  I am continually brought back to God’s exhortation to Moses that the fruit of his obedience would be a sign to him that God has sent him.  This weekend I felt like I saw and was affirmed that God has not only brought me and others to this place for this time, but gave me a personal reminder of HOW BIG HE IS.  Sometimes God moves to show the unbelieving generations who he is…and at other times He moves to remind his children that he alone is God.

I left Sunday afternoon feeling a strong conviction that I need to obey him and be present in the service and ministry opportunities He has put before me, today.  Being obedient here and now will move me into whatever plans he has for me in 1 months, or 6 months or years into the future.  They may be different, or more of the same.  Regardless, if I focus too much on what may or may not lie ahead, I might miss the beautiful movement of his Hand today.   This weekend I saw His hand…and I am in awe at how good, tender, and completely faithful He is to His daughters.

As I reflect on all that happened, I find myself especially surprised by grace. You see, it is the grace that comes from Christ that enables us to stand as a co-laborer with Him, appointed to bear fruit for His Glory (2 Cor 6:1, John 15:16).  We are able to serve out a calling  (no matter how big or small it may seem) because of His Grace.  We do not deserve it, nor are we entitled to it…yet, we are allowed to experience it.

I am not in any way responsible for what happened this weekend, but I am tasting the sweet blessing that comes from the steps of obedience that have been placed before me and the team of people I serve with.  I don’t know if it is the culmination of months of praying and planning, or if it the simple realization that God is living and active today, either way this feeling…this “surprised by grace” place is one I hope to sit in for as long as He’ll let me.

Can We Trust God Beyond Our Strengths?

Posted by Amy W in Christianity, Devotional, life, Life Lessons From Church Planting and tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The man asked, “Who am I, that you would ask me to do this?”

The Lord answered, “I will be with you and this will be a sign for you that I have sent you…”

“But Lord I am not eloquent…I am slow of speech and tongue”

The Lord replied, “who made your mouth?”

The man said, “please, Lord, send someone else”

The anger of the Lord kindled and he said, “Look there is your brother, he can speak well…he shall be your mouth”.

If you read my about me section, you will see that I have my Strengths Finder strengths listed.  I have pride in my personality result tests (I love them!) and this one I liked because it nailed areas that I consider strengths of mine.  Socially, the strengths-based ideology has spread in the past several years.  The premise behind it is that we are most effective when we work within our strengths.  It makes sense right?  Simply put – know what you’re good at and do it.  This line of logic implies the opposite as well: “don’t do or work in the areas that you’re not good at.”  For the most part I agree, it’s hard not to, right?  If you’re not good at it, doesn’t that increase your chances of failure?  And who wants to fail, really?

What happens, though, when we are facing a challenge or calling that is not something we feel confident in?  Maybe we can’t see the application of our top five strengths in the task at hand, or maybe we’ve just never done it before, so we’re not sure we can.  The Strengths Finder ideology doesn’t really advocate for success when we’re called out beyond our “strengths”.

As the Bible indicates, this was the case with Moses.  Above I’ve included a very abbreviated version of the dialogue between Moses and God as God was calling Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt (the full version can be read in chapters 3-4 of Exodus).  Moses had never done what God was asking him to do and even recognized that his inability to speak well could affect the work ahead.  I find it humorous, now, that God’s response was simply that He made Moses’s Mouth.  I mean, who more than the creator would know what Moses could or could not do with that speech impediment?  Can you relate?

At one point or another, many, if not all of us, will or have faced a calling or challenge or new job, and thought to ourselves, “God, clearly I can’t do this”?  I know I have.  Just yesterday I met with one of the pastors at my church to talk about the Prayer Ministry that we’re trying to establish.  I was excited during the conversation, but then later started to have what I fondly call “a Moses Moment”.  It was one of those times where, facing what I believe God has put before me, I began to think,

“God I can’t do this”. 

“God, I’m not creative…I’ll never come up with fun ideas that will get people motivated about prayer”. 

“And, who am I to tell anyone how to pray?  Do I even know how to pray?”. 

“Are you sure you want me?”

As I read the dialogue between Moses and God this morning, I resonated with Moses’s insecurity.  I think most of us can.  Take note of God’s first response in Chapter 3 vs. 12: “I will be with you, and this shall be a sign for you, that I have sent you”.  I think most Christians recognize that while here on earth we are to Glorify God.  He wants His truth to be known to the ends of the earth.  What I think we sometimes forget (that I had forgotten) is that He also continues to make Himself more fully known to us who already believe.  Of course God wants Israel to know him and believe He is who he is, but in this moment, God’s response wasn’t about the others…It was for Moses specifically and the potential growth of God’s reign and truth in his life.  In the end, the slight wavering of Moses’s trust in God’s calling brought Aaron into the journey.  On one hand, I see that regardless, God’s will was accomplished and the people of Israel came up out of Egypt.  On the other hand, I can’t help but wonder if, for Moses personally, there was a depth or insight or connectedness that was missed out on because He insisted that he couldn’t do what God had clearly called him to do.   I can only speculate that there was.

I don’t think we’re always called to do things we feel unequipped to do, but in the times that we are,  I would challenge us to reflect on Moses’s calling.  Just as God made his mouth, so too are we “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14).  Even better than Gallup is able to identify our strengths or Myers Briggs is able to outline our personality traits, God knows us.  The Lord knows what we are really able to do with Him, and as Paul wrote to the Ephesians, “we are His workmanship, created in Christ to do good works, which [He] prepared for us in advance, that we should walk in them.” (ch. 2 vs. 10).

When God calls us, who are we to tell Him He has chosen the wrong person?  Look at God’s final response to Moses in Chapter 4…Moses’s disbelief made God angry.  I can’t believe that God takes this sort of thing lightly.  Clearly our salvation will not be removed when we falter like this, nor will it cause God’s love for us to change (2 Tim 2:13, Ex 15:13, Psalm 13:5 and 33:18).  God will still do what He’s going to do in the grand scheme of things.  But I also don’t think we should ignore that the scripture indicates that Moses refusal made God angry.

There are times when we jump into things we know we’re good at…there are other times God calls us to serve beyond what we think we have the strength to do or are best equipped to do.  In these times, if we trust and are faithful to His calling…we may stumble forward, but we will walk away upright knowing and praising what the Lord has done.

Worrying About Sin

Posted by Amy W in Christianity, Devotional, Quotes, relationships, Uncategorized and tagged with , , , , ,

Before I spill my thoughts I want to open the door for anyone who reads this…if I’m off base, tell me. 

As I drove home from work yesterday I talked with a friend on the phone.  During our conversation, my friend began to express how much she hurt for another friend of ours.  This other person is a Christian, was walking with the Lord and now has started making decisions and choices that may not be the most God-glorifying and in some cases is choosing to outright sin against God.  The person on the other end of the phone has been discouraged over the whole situation from day 1.  I, on the other hand, have not been “bothered” by it to the same degree.  Yesterday there came a point in our conversation where I started to think my friend was waiting for me to meet her in her discomfort over this situation.  I couldn’t…and as a result, I think my words were rather disappointing to her. 

From my perspective, this “situation” is all too familiar to me.  Actually, it’s practically a mirror image of me and some decisions I made 1 year into my walk with God.  Several of my friends responded just as yesterday’s phone conversation went down.  I ultimately did what I wanted to do, regardless of what anyone could do or say to me at the time…similar to our friend today.  It is now 7 years later, and while I did what I wanted to do then, ultimately God did what He wanted to do…and that was to continue conforming me to his image.  As with any of the harder darker times in my walk, God used those times and specifically my emergence from them to grow and deepen my faith and character in ways that nothing else would have been able to do.  While I would love to (ideally speaking) save all those I love from hurt or pain or suffering or bad decisions or sin, I would never want to “save” them from the process of growth that so often accompanies those times in our lives. 

I look at this situation today and I don’t feel despair nor do I feel as heart-broken as others on the outside looking in.  I look at this situation and find peace knowing that God can and will do anything to move us to being more of the person we were created to be, even if that means that for a season we are  given over to the sin we are trying to cling so tightly to. 

I felt bad as I hung up the phone yesterday…I am not burdened for this situation like others may be.  I actually feel optimistic about the situation…not to say I expect the outcome to be a certain way (because I don’t know what that outcome will be), but rather am optimistic that regardless of what the situation and choices are, God can and will do what He wants when the time is right.  Perhaps it’s because the situation hits close to home but I just can’t find despair in the situation and sins, instead I hope in the opportunities that exist.  There is so much potential for God to Glorify His name…in several different ways.  Why worry over the sin when I can pray for God’s Glory to reign?   

In my devotional this morning I read this and felt that it was relevant to my musings of the last 18 or 20 hours.  Using Moses as a backdrop to build this reflection (Numbers 20) Henry Blackaby pens the following in his devotional, Experiencing God:

“God has put people around you who need your ministry to them. You will never be able to properly help them, however, unless your primary focus is on God. If you concentrate on people, their weaknesses, their disobedience, their lack of faith, and their stubbornness will quickly frustrate you. You may… commit the very sins you are condemning. If, however, your eyes are fixed on holy God, you will become more like Him—gracious, forgiving, long-suffering, and righteous. When a friend’s behavior disappoints you, go immediately to the Lord. Seek to discern what God is wanting to do in your friend’s life rather than concentrating on your friend’s sin. Then you will have the strength, wisdom, and patience you need to help your friend in the way God desires.”