The Faith Walk Is No "Cake Walk"

I wasn't sure that I would blog anything this morning. I've had a couple of restless nights, which generally translates into God revealing new truths to me that I won't be still enough to hear any other time of the day. I've been here an hour this morning, studying and reading, and praying about what to share today. It's been a battle this morning to say the least.

I spent almost the whole day yesterday "visioneering" and planning, one of the parts of my calling that I enjoy the most. Most of the day was spent with my friend Bob Cupp, whose kids are students here at Skipstone. Bob is a land use planner who specializes in golf course design. Before you ask, we're not planning to build a golf course at Skipstone! We are, however, working on a master site plan for the campus in preparation for some new construction later this year.

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit with Bob yesterday. It's realy cool when God puts people in our path who share our same passion and zeal for Kingdom work, but have different gifts and talents than we do, and therefore shed new light on the vision. I'm not sure we got everything done on the master planning side of things, but I felt as though we had encountered God in our time of "dreaming out loud" yesterday.

I wonder if the restlessness in my heart the last couple of days is a result of fatigue or an attempt by the enemy to plant seeds of discouragement. I remember very vividly the time in my life when I was shaken from the belief that if we are obeying God, and doing all that He asked of us, that everything would be great and we would feel happy and safe. I grew up in churches that painted that kind of picture of the Christian life.

In the mid 1990's, in a most unsual way, God gave Shondi and I some of the most clear and profound direction we had ever received through a series of bizarre circumstances and an undeniable call to obedience. It was the first of several "walks of faith" that God called us to, the latest of which we are walking today at Skipstone.

There's not time for all of the details here, but God moved us to the small town of Skiatook, Oklahoma. That sounds fairly ordinary, but it was as far from ordinary to us. When we loaded up our belongings here in Georgia, we had no idea where we would be unloading them in Oklahoma. We had no jobs there, we had no reason to go there, and we had no assurance from anyone that we hadn't completely lost our minds! All we knew was that God was calling us to a level of obedience that completley rocked our world.

I remember how excited I was to realize that my faith had grown to a point that I would even consider doing something so far out of my comfort zone. I was certain that the windows of heaven were about to open up and pour down all kinds of blessing on us for taking such a "giant leap of faith".

I also remember the devastation I felt when our van was vandalized and most of our possesions were stolen from our home during the first week we were there. I couldn't beleive that God would allow that to happen after we had been so faithful to hear His voice and to obey. I immediately starting second guessing the move, and convinced myself that I must have "missed" God. Surely he wouldn't have called us all the way to Oklahoma to make our lives miserable. I was ready to come back home!

Since God knew every thought in my mind, He wasted no time in bringing a "prophet" into my path that would become one of the most influencial people in my life. He wasn't a "prophet" in the biblical sense, but he was one of the few people I've encountered that loved me enough to tell me the truth about God's word.... what I needed to hear and not necessarily what I wanted to hear. I was looking for sympathy, but he gave me a spiritual "kick in the rear". I was looking for nuture and assurance, but he told me to Jesus was the only assurance I needed. I wanted peace, but he insisted that initmacy with Jesus was more important.

I wondered during my restlessness last night if perhaps I was geting a gentle reminder that whenever we attempt something for God, we should expect some oppostion from the enemy. As long as we are content to stay where we are in our walk, things may be peaceful, but the faith walk is no "cake walk". We are not guaranteed an easy journey, only a faithful companion!

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging." Psalm 46:1-3 NIV

Whatever It Takes,
Chip