We have been living in Edinburgh for roughly 7 1/2 months now- our time here thus far has been invigorating, challenging, exciting, confusing, and revelatory.
When God tells us (or even hints at us) to do something, there is always going to be at least a modicum of faith required of us. Some requests/calls may necessitate a small portion of faith, and yet others, every ounce of faith that we (feel like we) could possibly muster.
The problem with us as humans is that when God asks us to do something, we tend to do it with some preconceived idea of the outcome.
Sometimes God is clear with us regarding what the outcome will be- but other times He just tells us to do something, and leaves all the details a secret, so-to-speak.
Man, us humans can't stand not being "in" on a secret. That's why as kids we will sneak into the room where the Christmas tree is setup (when we think that no one is looking), and shake and listen to the presents to try and figure out what they contain inside.
Our parents and siblings would wrap them in sometimes very bizarre ways to throw us off the scent- but that wouldn't stop us from mentally filling in the blanks and trying to figure out every possibility of what that wrapped up mystery could be.
As adults we tend to do the very same thing with God's presents.
Case in point: Our move to Edinburgh.
For those of you who may not have been following this blog since it's inception, I will provide a brief summary:
Raeleen and I felt God leading us to give-away/sell all of our possessions (save for a handful of suitcases with clothes and toiletries) and move to Edinburgh.
We had no idea what we were to do when we arrived here, nor where we would live, or how we would pay the bills.
We didn't know anyone who lived in the entirety of the United Kingdom, let alone Edinburgh Scotland.
All that we felt confident about, was that God wanted us to go, and that we weren't to worry ourselves about the details. He was going to handle everything.
When I summarize that in a few sentences it seems almost too simple.
Dare I condense it even further? Yes, yes I dare:
1) Give/Sell Everything
2) Go Where I'm Sending You
3)Trust Me
-------------
The End
In the midst of some of the bizarre, frustrating and confusing experiences that we have waded through thus far, I can feel the weight of the truth of God's word in an almost tangible way.
Raeleen and I have been praying for God to grow the fruits of the spirit within us (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control- Galations 5:22-23), and to transform us from the inside out so that we can be used in any way possible to further His kingdom.
He has been coming through on our request in various ways- one of which is through our children.
The more I watch, interact, listen to and teach my children, the more I come to realize that kids are really just younger versions of adults...
Yes, I know, that's painfully obvious, and it doesn't seem that profound- but yet it really is when you consider that every little day to day difficulty, frustration and obstacle you encounter is just a more advanced version of something that you would have experienced as a child.
This brings me back to that "present" I was talking about.
We were given a present, and naturally not told what was inside. All we knew was that it was going to be something great, and that the unwrapping would happen at His chosen time.
The time frame ended up being longer than we expected, so we proceeded to start shaking the present in hopes that we might guess the contents- or more specifically, we didn't know what God was going to do with us here, so we just started guessing and picturing.
Little by little we started forming expectations of what was going to be in that present, and when that present was going to be opened.
That's where things started to really get difficult and exasperating.
We (unintentionally) made things more complicated then they were intended to be, and the result was worry, confusion, and a sense of panic.
Now, I think that it goes without saying that when God says "just trust me" that it's much easier said than done. However, looking back over the months that we have lived here it becomes very apparent that we wouldn't have had to face some of the emotional difficulties that we did had we not shaken the box.
As soon as we started to worry that things weren't happening at the speed that we had anticipated- misplaced expectations quickly formed.
And we finally came to realize that we weren't frustrated about God not coming through on the things that He said that He would do. We were merely frustrated about God not coming through for us in the way we had expected.
Realizing that distinction has been part of the journey.
In our moments of panic (yes there have been some of those) we made some decisions and took some steps to try and at least go in one direction or the other. You probably have heard that old Christian-ese saying: "God can't steer a parked car"- well as soon as you start reading into what God has told you to do, you can very quickly find yourself in a downward spiral.
Since we had mistakenly given ourselves a time frame, we began to think that we were maybe doing something wrong since things weren't happening the way we expected within the confines of that time frame.
As a result, we thought that we should just do something so that we would at least be moving- then God could "steer us".
Thankfully God has been extremely gracious by closing certain doors that we were trying to open, and opening certain doors that we didn't even know existed.
Of course God HAS been working out every detail, and any worries on our part have really been for nothing. In reading this you may think that that is the obvious answer, but it really doesn't feel obvious when you're right in the middle of it.
Another way that misplaced expectations can become problematic is when you may think that you're supposed to be working on one area of your life, when in fact God is trying to work another area first.
The longer it takes for you to put your expectations aside- the longer it will be before you realize that God has been working in your life the whole time...just in a different way then you've been noticing.
Again using children as an example (and more specifically my children);
I find that when I am having to deal with wrong actions in my children, if I were just to respond to the action itself, the problem would never be solved, because the action stems from a hidden motive or heart attitude.
When I respond to the motive first before the action, I find that very quickly the ongoing attitude tends to disappear.
Thankfully with our children as young as they are, it's still quite easy to spot wrong motives.
It is so much harder to spot with adults as they have had so many more years to hone the craft of deception and manipulation.
Thankfully, our wrong motives and attitudes are even more obvious to God OUR father then our children's motives are to us.
He knows the parts of our character that we may be unaware of that need to be worked on first, before we can effectively work on the parts that we think we need to.
I feel completely comfortable being open and upfront about the fact that I know very little about automobile maintenance and how a vehicle runs.
I know how to drive the car safely, pay the bills for registration, fuel and upkeep, and I could change the oil in a vehicle if it was absolutely necessary. But that's where my automobile knowledge ends.
If one day I noticed that the back wheel was wobbling slightly, my first thought would probably be that there is a problem with the wheel. However, upon closer examination, a trained professional may see an additional problem with the axle which has in turn warped the wheel.
If I had just paid the mechanic to replace the wheel, the problem would have still existed.
Instead, I pay someone who is far more knowledgeable then I in that regard- and he spots and then proceeds to deal with the root of the problem.
Now, bringing that back to us. We find ourselves in a position where we are wanting to help others, yet we are needing help ourselves.
We have been helping others where ever we have been able to find the opportunity, and we have been doing so without any expectation of anything in return.
The problem has been in us letting others do the same.
You see, when we started developing these misplaced expectations, we started mentally concocting all the ways in which we thought God was going to come through for us, since of course there were definite needs.
When we started to see Him come through in a completely different way then we were expecting, it began to make us feel very uncomfortable.
God has all sorts of tricks up His sleeves for making money magically appear, and if it had to be through people, we kind of pictured it being through rich people who could afford a bit of extra cash here and there.
But far before that would even possibly be in the cards we would have expected that God would have had jobs prepared for us upon arrival, or some means by which we could provide for ourselves.
However, we were finding that, not only were we finding it impossible to obtain sufficient work to pay (all of) our bills, but also the people who were volunteering to help us as a result were people who had to give out of sacrifice.
This is where Raeleen and I ran into some serious problems. It almost felt like since God wasn't coming through for us to pay the bills that other people were having to give of themselves to compensate.
Now, flip this around.
In the past we have known various people who were in a not dissimilar situation to ours, where we saw an opportunity to help them financially, and so we did. We weren't rich (by any stretch of the imagination), and we really could have used that money, but we saw a need, and we wanted to help. We wanted to live a generous life and trust God to come through in the details. That's what the Acts church did, and that's what we wanted in our own lives.
However, letting others do the same for us has been extremely difficult. We really haven't even wanted anyone to know that we have needs, simply because we didn't want anyone to get any sense that we were guilt-tripping them, or hinting. We didn't want anyone to feel any sense of obligation to give to us.
There are a few here that know us really well, and so have been much more direct with their questions.
We reluctantly answered them, at the risk of lying.
When they started helping us in various ways we almost felt sick.
They have hearts of gold, and we are eternally thankful for everything that they've been doing/giving, but why them? It's not financially easy for them to help us. If we aren't to have sufficient employment (for the time being) to pay our bills, then at the very least, if we have to receive money from someone, can't it be someone who wouldn't feel it in the bank?
This has been a hard lesson learned. However, when we think about it- this happens many times in the Bible.
When you look at the Acts church, you don't see God dropping money from heaven and magically supplying everyone's needs. You see all the people giving of themselves and sacrificing for each other so that no one was in need for anything.
When the Bible talks about everyone being a part of Christ's body, each part doing their share to ensure the health and functionality of the whole- that puts the onus first and foremost on the people, not on God (1 Corinthians 12:14-26).
We have never lacked anything while living here. That is the big picture. How God has provided, and will provide is in the details. It doesn't matter how, but THAT HE WILL.
We've never wanted anyone to feel guilty or have any sense of obligation when we've helped them. We were just really excited to have the opportunity and to be able to make a difference in someone's life.
When God puts it in someone else's heart to help us, regardless of the sacrifice, we need to be able to receive in the same manner as we give.
So, 2 big lessons for us:
1) When God tells us something simple, keep it simple. Forming expectations above and beyond will only
serve to complicate and frustrate the situation.
2) It is equally as paramount that we have a right heart in our giving as in our receiving. God is very rarely going to do things the way you expect, which is why living a life of humility is of the utmost importance.
When I summarize that in a few sentences it seems almost too simple.
Dare I condense it even further? Yes, yes I dare:
1) Give/Sell Everything
2) Go Where I'm Sending You
3)Trust Me
-------------
The End
In the midst of some of the bizarre, frustrating and confusing experiences that we have waded through thus far, I can feel the weight of the truth of God's word in an almost tangible way.
Raeleen and I have been praying for God to grow the fruits of the spirit within us (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control- Galations 5:22-23), and to transform us from the inside out so that we can be used in any way possible to further His kingdom.
He has been coming through on our request in various ways- one of which is through our children.
The more I watch, interact, listen to and teach my children, the more I come to realize that kids are really just younger versions of adults...
Yes, I know, that's painfully obvious, and it doesn't seem that profound- but yet it really is when you consider that every little day to day difficulty, frustration and obstacle you encounter is just a more advanced version of something that you would have experienced as a child.
This brings me back to that "present" I was talking about.
We were given a present, and naturally not told what was inside. All we knew was that it was going to be something great, and that the unwrapping would happen at His chosen time.
The time frame ended up being longer than we expected, so we proceeded to start shaking the present in hopes that we might guess the contents- or more specifically, we didn't know what God was going to do with us here, so we just started guessing and picturing.
Little by little we started forming expectations of what was going to be in that present, and when that present was going to be opened.
That's where things started to really get difficult and exasperating.
We (unintentionally) made things more complicated then they were intended to be, and the result was worry, confusion, and a sense of panic.
Now, I think that it goes without saying that when God says "just trust me" that it's much easier said than done. However, looking back over the months that we have lived here it becomes very apparent that we wouldn't have had to face some of the emotional difficulties that we did had we not shaken the box.
As soon as we started to worry that things weren't happening at the speed that we had anticipated- misplaced expectations quickly formed.
And we finally came to realize that we weren't frustrated about God not coming through on the things that He said that He would do. We were merely frustrated about God not coming through for us in the way we had expected.
Realizing that distinction has been part of the journey.
In our moments of panic (yes there have been some of those) we made some decisions and took some steps to try and at least go in one direction or the other. You probably have heard that old Christian-ese saying: "God can't steer a parked car"- well as soon as you start reading into what God has told you to do, you can very quickly find yourself in a downward spiral.
Since we had mistakenly given ourselves a time frame, we began to think that we were maybe doing something wrong since things weren't happening the way we expected within the confines of that time frame.
As a result, we thought that we should just do something so that we would at least be moving- then God could "steer us".
Thankfully God has been extremely gracious by closing certain doors that we were trying to open, and opening certain doors that we didn't even know existed.
Of course God HAS been working out every detail, and any worries on our part have really been for nothing. In reading this you may think that that is the obvious answer, but it really doesn't feel obvious when you're right in the middle of it.
Another way that misplaced expectations can become problematic is when you may think that you're supposed to be working on one area of your life, when in fact God is trying to work another area first.
The longer it takes for you to put your expectations aside- the longer it will be before you realize that God has been working in your life the whole time...just in a different way then you've been noticing.
Again using children as an example (and more specifically my children);
I find that when I am having to deal with wrong actions in my children, if I were just to respond to the action itself, the problem would never be solved, because the action stems from a hidden motive or heart attitude.
When I respond to the motive first before the action, I find that very quickly the ongoing attitude tends to disappear.
Thankfully with our children as young as they are, it's still quite easy to spot wrong motives.
It is so much harder to spot with adults as they have had so many more years to hone the craft of deception and manipulation.
Thankfully, our wrong motives and attitudes are even more obvious to God OUR father then our children's motives are to us.
He knows the parts of our character that we may be unaware of that need to be worked on first, before we can effectively work on the parts that we think we need to.
I feel completely comfortable being open and upfront about the fact that I know very little about automobile maintenance and how a vehicle runs.
I know how to drive the car safely, pay the bills for registration, fuel and upkeep, and I could change the oil in a vehicle if it was absolutely necessary. But that's where my automobile knowledge ends.
If one day I noticed that the back wheel was wobbling slightly, my first thought would probably be that there is a problem with the wheel. However, upon closer examination, a trained professional may see an additional problem with the axle which has in turn warped the wheel.
If I had just paid the mechanic to replace the wheel, the problem would have still existed.
Instead, I pay someone who is far more knowledgeable then I in that regard- and he spots and then proceeds to deal with the root of the problem.
Now, bringing that back to us. We find ourselves in a position where we are wanting to help others, yet we are needing help ourselves.
We have been helping others where ever we have been able to find the opportunity, and we have been doing so without any expectation of anything in return.
The problem has been in us letting others do the same.
You see, when we started developing these misplaced expectations, we started mentally concocting all the ways in which we thought God was going to come through for us, since of course there were definite needs.
When we started to see Him come through in a completely different way then we were expecting, it began to make us feel very uncomfortable.
God has all sorts of tricks up His sleeves for making money magically appear, and if it had to be through people, we kind of pictured it being through rich people who could afford a bit of extra cash here and there.
But far before that would even possibly be in the cards we would have expected that God would have had jobs prepared for us upon arrival, or some means by which we could provide for ourselves.
However, we were finding that, not only were we finding it impossible to obtain sufficient work to pay (all of) our bills, but also the people who were volunteering to help us as a result were people who had to give out of sacrifice.
This is where Raeleen and I ran into some serious problems. It almost felt like since God wasn't coming through for us to pay the bills that other people were having to give of themselves to compensate.
Now, flip this around.
In the past we have known various people who were in a not dissimilar situation to ours, where we saw an opportunity to help them financially, and so we did. We weren't rich (by any stretch of the imagination), and we really could have used that money, but we saw a need, and we wanted to help. We wanted to live a generous life and trust God to come through in the details. That's what the Acts church did, and that's what we wanted in our own lives.
However, letting others do the same for us has been extremely difficult. We really haven't even wanted anyone to know that we have needs, simply because we didn't want anyone to get any sense that we were guilt-tripping them, or hinting. We didn't want anyone to feel any sense of obligation to give to us.
There are a few here that know us really well, and so have been much more direct with their questions.
We reluctantly answered them, at the risk of lying.
When they started helping us in various ways we almost felt sick.
They have hearts of gold, and we are eternally thankful for everything that they've been doing/giving, but why them? It's not financially easy for them to help us. If we aren't to have sufficient employment (for the time being) to pay our bills, then at the very least, if we have to receive money from someone, can't it be someone who wouldn't feel it in the bank?
This has been a hard lesson learned. However, when we think about it- this happens many times in the Bible.
When you look at the Acts church, you don't see God dropping money from heaven and magically supplying everyone's needs. You see all the people giving of themselves and sacrificing for each other so that no one was in need for anything.
When the Bible talks about everyone being a part of Christ's body, each part doing their share to ensure the health and functionality of the whole- that puts the onus first and foremost on the people, not on God (1 Corinthians 12:14-26).
We have never lacked anything while living here. That is the big picture. How God has provided, and will provide is in the details. It doesn't matter how, but THAT HE WILL.
We've never wanted anyone to feel guilty or have any sense of obligation when we've helped them. We were just really excited to have the opportunity and to be able to make a difference in someone's life.
When God puts it in someone else's heart to help us, regardless of the sacrifice, we need to be able to receive in the same manner as we give.
So, 2 big lessons for us:
1) When God tells us something simple, keep it simple. Forming expectations above and beyond will only
serve to complicate and frustrate the situation.
2) It is equally as paramount that we have a right heart in our giving as in our receiving. God is very rarely going to do things the way you expect, which is why living a life of humility is of the utmost importance.
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