Going Quiet with God
It has been a very
long time since I have written a blog for “The Moving Edge.” It is not because I have nothing to say
because if you know me, you know I always have something to say. It is not because there is nothing going on
in the ministry or in “The Moving Edge,” God is always at work and so there is
always work to be done or getting done.
It is because I have felt the need or desire to “Go Quiet with God.”
What does the
statement mean when I say I felt the need or desire to “Go Quiet with God,” simply
it is that I needed to seek Him and His desires in my life. I needed to be still. There were very few days that didn’t start
before 5am and end somewhere very late (if I even slept at all) where I just
fell asleep where I was. I was struggling
to juggle the work in the Middle East and North Africa, the bombardment of
questions about my thoughts about what was happening in the region, the
heart-wrenching questions regarding my care and love for my family and feeling
God still wanted me to work in this region, the upcoming visit of my friend
from Egypt and his visit and his visit,
the upcoming busy schedule of travel and projects (Turkey will happen in early
November), and the financial responsibilities, and the challenges of being in a
faith-based ministry.
Psalms 46: 10
says: “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” I have known this verse pretty much all my
life. I do believe it is one of the
first Bible verses that I learned when I was in my Bible study classes as a
young child, sitting next to my Great Aunt Cathleen, at Errol Heights Baptist
Church in Portland, Oregon. This verse
says so much in such a few words. So I
took the two words to heart and was still.
I watched God being exalted among the nations, even in the midst of the
beheadings in Iraq and Syria. I watched
him be exalted when a village refused to convert back to Islam and professed
Jesus Christ as their Lord, while the whole world watched them die for their beliefs. I saw and experienced Him move in our lives,
in ways that only He could. I watched
all of this and yet in my human-ness, I still cried out to Him. There were days that I was angry with God
because I felt that He wasn’t answering my prayers and was just letting me hang
out here on that branch all alone. On
the days I was angry, I cried out even louder to Him, not realizing that all along
that my God and Savior was answering my prayers. In hindsight I realize that God was using
this time for me to just be on my knees and talk to Him.
So now I am
back. Does this mean that all is
perfect, not by a long shot; I still get up before 5am every day and still work
very late and still struggle to get it all done. I am still getting the questions. I still pray daily for the people of the
region that God has called me into. My
heart breaks for the friends I have in the region God has called me to work
in. I still have the same busy schedule
and yes my team and I are leaving for Turkey in 2 weeks. And our financial situation is not any better
today than it was, probably even worse. However through all
of this, there is one FANTASTIC and GREAT constant; that is the Lord Jesus
Christ, who continually is faithful and walking alongside of us.
A friend of mine,
Brian Underwood (who works with me with International Commission)) posted this
on Facebook:
“A missionary is someone sent by Jesus
Christ just as He was sent by God. The
great controlling factor is not the needs of people, but the command of Jesus.” Oswald Chambers.
Although I don’t call myself a missionary, however I do say
that I am a worker of Jesus; I must realize that I do the job that I do because
of a command of Jesus to go and tell others about Him. This is what it is all about: The Command of
Jesus. Sorry that I went away for a
time. God is still working and He is so
wanting us, each of us to answer His Call and continue His Work and be part of His Work. If you want to know how you can answer His
Call in going, praying or being part of our ministry team, please just sent me
a message and I would be glad to share with you how. God Bless, Ron
