The Path to Promise

When I moved to Florida I moved here with the knowledge that I was called to this area and region.  When I gave God my yes I told Him I would go wherever He sent me, so here I am. A lot of people freak out at the thought of packing up and leaving everything behind.  The thing is, it's different when you leave everything behind to follow Jesus. I can't say that this journey has been difficult physically, but emotionally it hasn't been the easiest.  I miss my family and friends, I miss the things that I associate with home, and I miss that sense of knowing that comes with being in your comfort zone.

That leads me to the first step in the journey to promise... getting out of your comfort zone.  Sometimes you step out on your own, other times God kicks you out and then there are the times you go kicking and screaming.  Fortunately, I stepped out without being dragged or prodded.  I've never had a problem with taking leaps of faith.  I leap first and look later.  That's a good thing but sometimes it has a kickback like habanero peppers.  You leap without worrying and then everything hits you and you have a thousand thoughts that go through your mind, a million questions, and concerns.  None of that matters now, too late because you already jumped.

Just like the picture above, the path to promise is never just straightforward.  There's bumps, bends, obstacles, test, trials, delays, and sometimes pits.  The key is remembering who sent you on the journey and who issued the promised.

God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? Numbers 23:19

Sunday I went to visit a church and the pastor was in a series called cloned where his emphasis is cloning characteristics of the men and women in the bible while going through similar trials.  This particular Sunday he was preaching about not giving up on your dreams.  He said 3 things that really really hit home for me.  

• Who are you to tell God what to do with His dream and the timing of it?
• Delay cultivates faith, you won't always have support but the process enables you to maintain once you get to the promise
• The process is more important than the destination b/c if you don't get relationship you'll squander it when u get there.

The first one is probably the hardest for me.  Especially because God has shown me so many glimpses of my future.  I get in a hurry to get there sometimes.  I want to just press fast forward and do everything now... We have to be able to give up the reigns and let God fully take control of our lives.  Which leads right on into the second thing the pastor said... Delay cultivates Faith.  

If God allowed us to have instant gratification for everything we'd all a be a hot mess.  We would never believe for the things we can't see, never imagine more than what or where we are right now.The things that God pours into us and burns off of us prepares us to maintain the promise once we get it.  If I'm a gardener and plant a seed but expect overnight  harvest I'll never learn how to maintain the garden and consistently produce fruit.   I wouldn't learn how to fend off pests, how to protect my crops from disease, how to nourish them, or when to prune and harvest.  There's so much that I would miss out on without the process.  

The third point is the most important.  If you don't build a strong foundation and maintain a solid relationship during the process you will fail miserably once you reach the place of promise.  You'll waste everything.. gifts, time, treasure, talents.... It's the relationship built during the process that guides you through promise, keeps you on the path to the promise and out of harm's way.  That relationship is what covers you when the storms come, when there's drought and death tries to whisper your name.  

I like each of you am in the middle of my journey to promise.  Although I don't have all the instructions or answers I trust that God knows where he's leading me and in what timing.  The good thing is, I've been processed before.  I've been without a job before and had to trust God alone for provision.  I've been in a new place by myself before, so I so I can trust God for friends.  I've been in transition with ministry before so I can trust God to do even bigger and greater this time with my assignment.So if we say we believe in God and we trust Him, lets do it fully.  With our whole heart and all of our being, not just through lip service.  

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