In behest of my good friend Sarah, I have another piece that I want to speak. For those who missed the earlier post, or have forgotten since... I have started Seminary this past January. It has been a roller coaster for me and the family. Leaving your comfortable bubble is never easy, but when you are leaving it for a country that you have never seen or don't know how to get to it can be downright hairy. Now don't get me wrong. I am not trying to say that I am just like Abraham, I just want to point out that my journey has been a bigger step of faith than I had originally expected.
We tested God with the decision to come to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS). In every step we took we asked God to show us the way or close the door. And so far he has shown us the next step and ushered us to it with a mighty power. From our house selling in a weekend to finding enough cash to pay the rent on time. From meeting our new church family, and the youth minister position that followed, to meeting a great set of friends in our downstairs neighbors. God has been faithful in the little things and in the big things. We have been so blessed.
I spent some time speaking with folks about the journey to seminary before we got here and even now I am still interested. I am interested in knowing what their journey was like. What was God's provision in you coming to this place? How did he meet your needs during this time? And story after story has impressed me so much about the grace and sovereignty of God. To see specific examples of meeting needs and providing for those being submissive to his calling. Even in my own story, I see how 5 years at Ferguson lead to me getting a job with the plumbing department at the seminary. And how that job lead me to my pastor Chad Forrester. And meeting him gave me the opportunity to serve as youth minister at Central Baptist-Weatherford. When we applied for campus housing our first choice was Garret Manor. We were assigned an apartment in that complex about a month before we were to move up. A week after our assignment came, we got a call about a change in plans. Evidently there was some damage to another couples current apartment, and they would need to move into the one we had been assigned. But that we were probably going to still be in Garret Manor. In fact, we were in the same complex, but we got an apartment with a better location, and our downstairs neighbors have been our closest friends while here at seminary. Not only that, but Nick - our neighbor - helped get Erin a job at the seminary in the department he works in. Now, she will have full time hours and my school will be paid for up to 30 hours a year. God is awesome.
I think about the provision he gives when he gives it. In some ways we just had to sit back and receive it, even undeservedly in some cases. But at other times we had to be active in pursuing his will and help for certain needs to be filled. It is not that God has needed our help, but that he requires our active participation. He wants us to engage in kingdom work.
Dear Reader, God promises in scriptures that the lilies of the field are clothed in splendor, and the sparrow is well fed -- we shouldn't worry about the provisions to come. But I don't think that gives us license to lazily wait for a harvest of wealth. I think we see a great picture of what it is to live according to God's will in the lily and the sparrow. The lily doesn't have to do much to be "clothed in splendor." But it like any vegetation has a specific function. They filter the air and produce oxygen. And on top of that, pollen from flowers is used to germinate other flowers. While the splendor of a lily happens naturally, it still preforms specific functions. The sparrow will always have enough to eat, never going hungry. But food just doesn't come right up to it. A sparrow has to go out and find that food, whether gathering seeds or hunting for the "early worm," a sparrow leads a dynamic life.
Remember that God will provide for every aspect of our lives. But that we must be active participants in his life, striving for his kingdom work.
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