Lining Up Your Ducks In A Row

I have been wonderfully amazed and excited at the notes of encouragement and support that have been sent to us in response to yesterday’s post.  I have to admit that I was a little hesitant to even write about our big decision, for I was concerned what some would think or say.  You would think that after all that we have been through over the last few years that I would be hardened to other’s potentially negative reactions.  But that sensitivity still tends to reside in the back of my mind!

Well, that concern was put to rest this morning though, as I read the words of my Biblical hero Joshua from the last chapter of his book.  After instructing and encouraging the children of Israel to stay true to the Lord God Jehovah, he said:  “… choose today whom you will serve.  (But) Even if you choose the gods your ancestors served on the other side of the Euphrates or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live, my family and I will serve the Lord.”  (Joshua 24:15 God’s Word ©)  Basically he was telling them that no matter what others believed, said, thought or did, that they still needed to obey and follow their God and His call on their lives.  God has called us to walk a particular (maybe different or even weird to others) path and we must obey!

The Lord explained to me a few days ago that my wife and I have a pioneering spirit.  Through the years we’ve been the one’s to gather the faithful few and start new churches. We were a part of the original few families in our county who chose to follow their hearts and put aside the concerns and (sometimes wrath) of friends, family members and government officials and Homeschool our kids back in the mid 1980’s.  (I think I’ve mentioned before that the local newspaper even interviewed my wife as part of an investigative report on Homeschooling and put her picture and one of our kids on the front page!) The list goes on and on.  Most of the adventures we participated in were great, a few maybe not so great.  But we have always tried to listen to the Lord, obey what we felt were His directions and then step out in faith, expecting His best for us. After all, isn’t that the classic definition of faith as found in Hebrews 11:1?

You see a pioneer may not always know what is over the next ridge or mountain, or around the bend in the river, but they are confident that they can meet and beat any challenge.  I think pioneers are born with the words of Paul from Philippians 4:13 permanently inscribed in their minds where he said: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”  (NKJV)

And I also believe that faith says that we don’t always need to have all our ducks lined up in a row before we set out to do what the Lord is calling us to do.  Now don’t get me wrong here.  I have always been a planner.  Over the years my wife and I have planned and directed countless drama productions, large scale dinners (beginning with a Teachers’ Appreciation Dinner that we directed when we were seniors in high school… the Barbequed chicken was a little burned on the outside and pink on the inside, but everything else went rather smooth!), Vacation Bible Schools, Youth Retreats, Family Fun Nights, Carnivals and so on, (and we were always the one’s to host the family dinners during the various holiday celebrations) and I have always had the knack to organize and plan it down to the finest detail in order to assure that every need and or potential problem was pre-handled and thought out.

But then there are times when God only gives you a little information at a time and you have to step out in faith and follow each tiny thread.  I think that this is where the pioneering spirit really comes into focus, as it becomes very exciting to see the Lord move before you and then you can hardly wait to see what He is going to do next!  It’s that excitement and expectancy that spurs you on to and through the next step.

Is there something that the Lord has been encouraging you to step out and do? Maybe this is your time to take the step of faith.  Maybe today is as the time when God told Joshua in chapter one, verse two of his namesake book in the Bible, “Now you… must cross (your) Jordan River into the land I am going to give (you)!” (God’s Word © personalized)  Maybe it is just more important to stop trying to get all your ducks lined up in a row and focus your attention and faith on Jesus “on whom our faith depends from beginning to end.”  (Hebrews 12:2 Good News Bible) His overall view of the horizon ahead is far greater and more encompassing than you and I could ever attempt to plan for.  So take on the attitude of the early pioneers of our country, look away toward the distant mountain peaks, set your faith and “Go west young man (or woman)!”

Have a great weekend.  Stay in tune to His Word and keep asking yourself… “What Great New Things am I expecting today?”