Breaking the Long Silence (sorry folks!)

Hi friends!
Sorry you haven't seen a blog in a while about Mission: Haiti!

Things are still a go, if you are thinking that! :-) I just am way overdue for a Haiti update!
My plan for this blog, as we enter 2011, is to still post my updates (which you will also receive if you have asked to have it emailed to you), but to also post other Mission: Haiti related things here on a more regular basis (Goal: twice a week). This ensures that people stay in the know, and know how to pray, too!
:-)

So, with that, I just wanted to share about today (and this weekend, really) about having faith in uncertainty, where I am in that, and how God is speaking to me and teaching me within my context on the subject.

I have a lot of uncertainty right now (beyond the BIG move, I have work changes and living changes brewing on the horizon). When I boil all of it down, the biggest factor on all of it coming together is when God's timing is right to move to Haiti, when I reach 100% in partnership development. I am projecting that, based on where I am now (monthly is at 17%, and one time is at 40%, if you are wondering), I can reach 100% by the summer. I know I need to do what I need to do, but the reality is that once I do my part, the success of this is on God. I believe He has called me and lead me this far, so I now have to totally trust that He will provide where He is leading. And right now, that leading is taking me into some uncertainty.

While I have acknowledged the uncertainty before this weekend, it took some good and challenging conversations, a message, and reading Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest today to bring the utter necessity of surrendering and trusting God in uncertainty.

A good friend is also in an uncertain place, and talking with her, hearing her story, exhorted me to totally trust, even when I can't figure out a plan. (This seems so obvious now, but I guess I just needed to hear it...)

Then, today, at CrossRoad Church, Alison Hunt talked about Mary, and how she totally had major uncertainty (How exactly would you explain immaculate conception to your parents, anyway?) And then Alison shared from her own life, where she and her husband are living from this same place, and they are seeking to have that attitude of Mary, where Mary said in Luke 1:38,“I am the Lord’s servant.” [You can watch the message in its entirety here (once posted by Tues Jan 4 or thereabouts).]

Finally, today, I read Oswald Chambers, and I think it was the death blow to my lack of peace in the midst of uncertainty. He starts by referencing Hebrews 11:8, where God calls Abraham to "go out" and follow Him to the unknown, which would be Abraham's (then Abram's) inheritance. Chambers goes on to say:
Have you ever “gone out” in this way? If so, there is no logical answer possible when anyone asks you what you are doing. One of the most difficult questions to answer in Christian work is, “What do you expect to do?”You don’t know what you are going to do. The only thing you know is that God knows what He is doing. Continually examine your attitude toward God to see if you are willing to “go out” in every area of your life, trusting in God entirely. It is this attitude that keeps you in constant wonder, because you don’t know what God is going to do next. Each morning as you wake, there is a new opportunity to “go out,” building your confidence in God.

I have bolded the sentences which hit the mark.

Then Chambers' asks: 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 complete surrender to Him until you are not surprised one iota by anything He does?

Those are good questions, Oswald. Let me take a minute and reflect on these... hmmmm [this is me earlier]

Finally, Mr. Chambers' parting shot: Then think how unnecessary and disrespectful worry is!

Well, Mr. Chambers, I'd like to think I wasn't worrying, but, well, perhaps by analyzing all of these scenarios, I actually was worrying, and not trusting.

Point taken. I will trust, even in this uncertainty.

What about you? We all face uncertainties... how do you address the unknowns? Can you trust for God's provision and pray instead of worry? I pray that you can take a step closer in that direction this week. :-)

A related scripture I'm thinking on (here from the KJV that my Grandmama used to quote like crazy, so how could I ever forget its awesome message):
Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (KJV)

Please let me know how I can pray for you! God bless! -Geri