Crossing the Line
About a year ago, the Lord began to speak to us about living in Russia for a season. This had been on our hearts for years, and in our minds it was something Paul and I would do at a more convenient time like when the kids were all grown. But God spoke to us and He kept on speaking and made it clear that He had a different timeline in mind. We got to a point where we realized that there was a line drawn on the ground, so to speak. We stood there, with our toes right up next to the line, and our Heavenly Father gave us a choice. He said in essence, “I’m not going to force you to do this, but my very best plan for you requires you to cross that line. Don’t be afraid. Trust me. I love you. I’m always with you. I want you to lay everything down before me. Are you willing? (And by the way, there’s no turning back.)” It was a terrifying decision, a momentous decision, one that evoked feelings of diving headfirst off a very tall tower through a thick cloud into a tiny and not-yet-visible tub of water. The Lord showed me how much idolatry and selfishness I had in my heart – in my flesh, I didn’t want to give up seeing my friends face-to-face . . . I didn’t want to give up fruitful, life-giving ministries . . . I didn’t want to give up a comfortable living environment . . . I didn’t want to give up being known . . . I didn’t want to give up having more than one bathroom in our home . . . I didn’t feel like bending. But God is love, and He poured so much encouragement, so much grace, so much comfort, and so much courage and faith into our hearts to enable us to repent and to surrender all. He put a desire in us that we couldn’t possibly have manufactured on our own – He gave us the desire to give it all up. Now, it’s one thing to give up things that aren’t that great like clothes that don’t fit you anymore anyway, but another thing entirely to give up your most priceless treasures. We were living in a season of tremendous fruitfulness in every area of our lives. It is especially difficult giving up something that you’ve birthed, labored over, and loved from the depths of your heart, whether relationships, ministries, or math clubs. But God’s grace is sufficient! He has drenched us with His grace and given us such joy in the process! He’s continued to speak and confirm His word, through Scripture, through His still small voice, through dreams & visions, through others, through circumstances. The heart, the core of our vision, the reason we’re going is to pray, and to simply “be” among the people as carriers of God’s presence (“Christ in you, the hope of glory”, Colossians 1:27). We want to passionately embrace all that God has for us, and expect Him to connect us with whomever He chooses. We certainly don’t presume to know what’s in store for us, but we are confident that our Lord does – we trust Him. True to His Word, He’s kept us in His peace and rest as we’ve kept our focus on Him. Going to Russia is gonna be hard, maybe harder than anything we’ve ever experienced, but we know it’s gonna be GOOD because God’s plans are ALWAYS good. So . . . we’ve laid everything down at the feet of Jesus. We took the leap of faith, just one step, actually, and we were across the line. He’s shown us one step at a time, given us grace for that one step, and that is enough. Our job is simply to trust Him completely – to put our hand in His and confidently expect Him to give us grace for the next step and then the next . . . this is a FAITH journey we’re all on. I want to encourage you . . . has God drawn a line on the ground before you? Of course, giving our lives to Christ is crossing the ultimate line. But periodically, the Lord draws other lines and calls us ever forward out of our comfort zones, to transform us to be more Christlike. Count the cost, receive courage and grace from Him, seek Godly counsel and prayer from your leaders and loved ones, throw yourself with wholehearted abandon into the arms of your loving heavenly Father, be confidently expectant in the Lord . . . and cross that line . . .
