Slow Moving Is Still Moving



I had an eventful week this week. I was offered an opportunity to work with a local church trying to revive an older congregation. The pastor needed a person who could lead and grow the teen department and lead the music. I’ve done both in my ministry career. The opportunity on the outside seemed great but I needed to stop and pray before doing anything. My first reaction was to say thank but no, but I wanted to make sure it wasn’t me saying that; I wanted to make sure it was the leading of the Holy Spirit. My desire is to follow God’s lead in my life; to go where He says go. Teresa and I prayed and asked many of our friends to pray with us and the end result was me saying thank you but no. After the decision was made and I sent an e-mail telling our praying friends, I had affirmation that the decision was of God.

A dear friend (in fact my adopted mom; Momma Love) shared something with me after I sent the e-mail communicating the end result. I want to share it;

“Joseph waited thirteen years for the LORD to show him why he was put in the hole, sold to the Egyptians, lied on by the man's wife, thrown in prison, forgotten by the cup bearer, remembered by the cup bearer and given the high position of running the Pharaoh's government.. . . We have to learn to "Be Still and know that I AM God!" by waiting patiently for Him.”

That will preach. Many people who are called to preach God’s Word want to hit the ground running; I was one of them as a 16 year old kid. It takes time to truly learn God’s Word and be able to share it. God has to fine tune the instrument (His people) to make sure it plays smoothly. It takes time.

The call on my life is to lead a church (equipping the saints to reproduce spiritually). I’m doing that now as an Elder along with Roger Allen and Floyd Whitfield and the other Elders of Common Ground. I know in time, God will open the door for me to be the lead pastor a church. That is the call of my life. I’ve learned several years ago that God has completed the tasks He has called me to do (in Ephesians). I’ve also learned that God’s timetable is not the same as mind.

In Psalm 119:105, we are told that God’s word is a light on our feet which lights our path. This refers to a lamp that people in the Bible times would put on their sandals so they could walk at night. If you have ever been in the middle of nowhere at night, it is pitch black where you can barely see. The people of this time would have these oil lamps that made it easier to travel. Since they used oil lamps, it was slow going so the oil wouldn’t spill. The lamp would only show maybe 2 to 3 feet in front so, again, it was slow going. God only reveals enough for us to do what He needs us to do. It can be slow moving but you are moving.

I maybe slow moving according to what I wish I could be doing but I am moving in God’s direction. He will have me arrive to the destination of his choosing at His appointed time. I need to be like Joseph and wait on Him.