Well, I am here today in Seattle. I had an interview yesterday to be the operations manager of a company in the Snoqualmie area. The owner is a friend of mine, and he made me an offer that is very difficult to refuse. In fact, I don't really even want to refuse the offer. Also, in this area, I would be very well connected with people and organizations that are alive, dynamic, and progressive. I am taking a bit of time, while we are here, to seek God and pray a bit before making a decision.
You see, I have struggled in the past with obeying God. I was talking a bit about this at our weekend service for church this Sunday. Forgive me, but I am going to use this post as a bit of cathartic and therapeutic work. I could really use some of your thoughts and input.
Anyway, like I was saying (before I rudely interrupted myself), we talked a bit about this subject on Sunday. We were discussing Abram (later Abraham) and his call to leave the land he knew and move to Canaan. God promised him the land as his inheritance. God also promised that he would have many descendants, who would multiply and fill the land, subduing it and taking possession of it. I notice two distinct responses from Abram that are rather striking in terms of his faith.
First, he just went. He was a stranger in that land. He was leaving his family and friends behind. There is no sense that he struggled with it at all. God told Abram to go. Abram went. He didn't walk around, seeking counsel and support from wise friends and neighbors. He didn't do a "recon trip" before deciding whether to obey. He didn't ask God for lots of signs and confirmations of this call. He just went. It is almost Forrest Gumpish in how Abram just seems to wake up and do what God says. I am actually pretty good at this first part. As I have sought to be a man who says "Yes" to God with my whole life, I actually have a fairly strong gift of faith to just unquestioningly obey. It's Abram's second response of faith that is the one with which I struggle. It is also the one that I think has to be the most difficult for all of us who consider ourselves human.
Abram pitches a tent. He has been promised this land. It is his, and he is secure in that. He builds stone altars and permanent memorials to the God who sent him, but he builds nothing permanent for himself. In fact, for his entire life, the only permanent structure that Abram will own will be his tomb. Now, I have heard people say that this was a bit of a lack of faith on Abram's part. Abram had no idea what God meant by possessing the land, and he had no descendants, so he only trusted enough to go there. If he had truly believed God, he would have settled in a permanent home there.
I think it's just the opposite. I think Abram acted in a faith that I can only dream of having. He trusted God enough to get up and go where sent. Awesome. I've done that as well. But Abram trusted God enough to NOT take the promise into his own hands! He remained mobile, based on the information he had, which was limited at best.
In 2001, Teresa and I felt that God was calling us to go and plant a church in Green Bay. We went, with the promise of a great career position that would support our ministry very well. We were excited for a future full of hope and promise, as we loaded up the truck (and moved to Beverly). I would have the best income of my life, I had solid networks in Green Bay from my Catholic ministry days, and I felt like God was sending me with the promise that I would inherit the land. God would do incredible things, affecting the entire city of Green Bay, through our ministry there!
When we got there, the job offer fell through. I had signed a lease, because I had my plan for how the "inheriting of the land" would go. We were not starting the church for another year, because we were going to take a full year to pray and work, building a united leadership team. Suddenly, with two very young children, a pregnant wife, a year lease on a place, and no income, I panicked. My plan was being messed up. In Green Bay, with winter coming, I could not just pitch a tent like Abram. So, I did what I knew how to do: I started the church. After all, God had promised me the land, right? So, I wasn't going back with my tail between my legs. I would behave as if the promise was for right now. I was going to will it to happen.
That, right there, is why I say that Abram had great faith. "Name it and claim it" approaches to faith are held up by many believers as THE way to claim the promises of God. In other words, as I am a person with a very powerful will, I get my orders and promises from God, and then I make them happen. That is not faith, I now realize. That is pride. We were created to rule and to reign. We were given dominion. But we were not built to independently reign apart from God. The power, the glory, the reign is all God's. Even the perfection, the righteousness (or being in right standing), and the mercy are all God's. We simply move in it. We have the authority to use that power, as long as we submit our reign and will to that of God.
It is a lot like a police officer. The police officer is not the law. The law is the law. The law has power and force of will to guide and govern a society. The police officer is bound (theoretically) by that same law. At no time does the officer obtain or possess the power of the law. As a sworn officer, he or she has the authority to carry out and apply the will of law, as long as he or she is in a state of compliance and submission to the law. As soon as they move outside of that state of submission, overstepping their authority, the law-breaker is set free. We say all the time that no one can "take the law into their own hands".
That is what it means to have free will and authority in the will of God. God gives us parameters and direction. God's will is done in our lives when we submit to that will, and only that will. That is what we pray in the Lord's Prayer: "Thy will be done". Abram had an order and a promise. The order: Go to the land I will show you. The promise: I will make you into a great nation, and you will have many descendants, who will take possession of the land. Now, Abram has the authority to obey the will of God. He also is a free agent in the deal, in that he could easily choose to obey or to just stay in his homeland. He has free will. Everything he knew was in his homeland. He was comfortable and established there. God did not say there would be a punishment for Abram if he disobeyed. He would just cut himself off from the promise. He may still have been abundantly blessed if he stayed. He may have had many descendants that ruled and reigned over the land of Harran. Abram's father, Terah, had taken the family toward Canaan, possibly on the orders of God, but he had settled in Harran on the way there. He seemed to have been blessed with offspring and possessions anyway. It is not as simple as the black and white idea of "obey or be punished". It would almost be easier if that was the M.O. of God. Faith is much more gray than that, even if we wished that reality were otherwise.
So, armed with a clear direction and a broad promise, Abram left for Canaan. The simple obedience of going there was within Abram's domain. The promise was in God's. He understood that, so he was a man of great faith. He did what he was told, and then he stayed mobile. He had no idea how God planned to fulfill the promise, and he didn't seem to be too bothered by living in that tension. God said go, so I went. Now, rather than falling into triumphalism and claiming the fulfillment of the promise immediately, as if it were some act of great faith to do so, he merely remained mobile, ready to obey again. You see, "name it and claim it" is not faith. It is overstepping our authority. It is a battle of wills against God. Pride. God makes promises in order to encourage us, as a deposit to help us persevere in obedience. How and when God plans to fulfill that promise is none of our business. This is evidenced in the very next passage, where there is a famine, so Abram goes to Egypt where there is food. Upon getting there, he has a failure of faith, fearing for his life. He did not consult God to ask if he should go to Egypt. He just goes, in the absence of further orders. But, because he was open to hear what God wanted next, even though he was going away from Canaan and the promise, God used Abram's sin to bless him! This is the opposite of the sin/curse dynamic. When we are submitted to God, even our sin can be redeemed by God for blessing.
So, we have felt like God was uprooting us from Green Bay for quite sometime now. I really believe the God is calling me to increase my writing, coaching, consulting, and speaking dream. I have the best opportunity for that in a more progressive area like Seattle. I also need to do that outside of the role of pastor. So, we have been called to move to the Seattle area. Now, I have a job offer. That job has nothing to do with writing, speaking, or ministry. It is a completely secular position. So, what do you think?
When I went to Green Bay, I took things into my own hands and steered them toward the promise. I missed the mark. In my obedience, I trust that God will still fulfill that promise in Green Bay after we are gone. We were faithful in obedience to work hard at laying the foundation there. God will fulfill the promise through those who come after me, just like the experience of Abram. Many descendants meant only one heir for Abraham, but God multiplied and expanded that deposit into a great nation. God will do the same with me. This is a wide open door for me, and it will provide a nice home, more income than I have had before, and the time and flexibility to continue to pursue my dream. As far as day jobs go, it looks really good. It is away from the dream right now, but God can make connections and bring me to the fulfillment of the dream as God sees fit. That's God's department, not mine.
I am moving here in 10 days. Teresa is following with the kids in June. I am obeying. I actually hesitated too long, sweating out whether it was God's will to give up the church to others. I get nervous about losing all of the networking connections I have made in the Vineyard Churches. The cost of living is higher here, and I worry about moving my family all this way, only to struggle again. All of that made me drag my feet. I just wanted to do it right this time. But even that is out of my hands. I need to obey God's lead to the best of my ability. If I do so, I am freely submitting my will to God's will. Then, even if I'm making a mistake, I am in God's will. Instead of being punished, I will be blessed. So, I let go of the worries, and stop looking everywhere for confirmation, signs, and reassurance. I move forward, and I let God work out the details. I am not running around here, trying to promote myself. I am letting God promote me. I am learning how to trust. Maybe that's the freest way to live.
When have you had to just obey God in your life, without knowing all the details of how and when? What was that like? Are you taken aback a bit by my assertion that God's will and the details are none of our business?
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