Jennifer and I have been in a season where we have depended on the Lord’s leadership over our lives more than previous seasons. Although this isn’t something that we have mastered and have complete confidence in, its rather something that we are struggling to work out. In my journey through the Old Testament I came across a passage in Exodus that encouraged me and inspired me to write a quick thought. In Exodus Chapter 13:17 the Bible says this;
Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt”.
In the days that we live in and those that are approaching our level of trust in Jesus’ safe leadership must increase. The Church and those that love Jesus must move into a place where we are not leaning on our own wisdom but in Jesus’ safe leadership. Although a vast majority of this principle (Jesus’ Leadership) must be gained through personal experience we also are strengthened through the written Word Of God. In this passage we get a glimpse into Jesus’ safe leadership over our lives.
As God is leading the Children of Israel out of Egypt he makes this statement about their direction and His foreknowledge concerning the path they are to take. There is a path that is closer than the one He chooses but its important for us to understand why He chose the one He did. We get the answer to His decision within this passage. God says that He lead them the way He did because He was concerned that if they went the short way they would have to engage in battle with the Philistines and He was worried that they would become discouraged and want to return to Egypt. Even though the way He lead them was going to take a little longer He was doing it out of love and His complete understanding of the future. He was at His core looking out for their interest and the safe arrival of the Children of Israel to the promised land. Sometimes in our lives God may lead us in a way that seems out of the way and its in this place that you and I must trust His safe leadership over our lives. The devil comes to try and convince us that He isn’t safe and that He’s not looking out for us. We must make a choice in whom we will trust.
Maybe the path your taking is a path that seems longer than another path that could have been taken, but if you are in the will of God we must trust that He knows what He’s doing. Jesus is more interested in you and I arriving safely at the end of this life and being joined with Him in the age to come then we are. To this end He is committed. Let us learn to trust His safe leadership over our lives more than our wisdom to navigate through the complexities of this fallen world we live in.
I have made promises that I have not kept. I have had right intentions but have not followed through on them. So this is just a quick update on life and whats to come. Jennifer and I have moved out of the blessing of basement lifestyle into our own place. We love being where we are, together and in our own place. God has opened a wonderful door and we stepped through it. We are O so close to being unpacked and all put together. Once this is complete it will make our lives some what normal again. Were both working two jobs apiece and finding time for each other in between. I will be back on here with some thoughts as soon as I encounter the Lord and put my heart once again before His fire allowing it to melt my cold heart. I look forward to connecting with you here!
This is my bone of contention with an older generation, but before I get into it let me give some background. My positive working career began at a small grocery store in 2001 then I took two Church positions for about six years and now I am back in the grocery biz for a little while as Jennifer and I go to school. When your working in retail or in a place where you provide others with customer service there is a way that you deal with people in a polite manner. So this is how it works for me. When I encounter a male I say to him ” how are you today sir”, and when its a female I say ” how are you today ma’am?” Now, 95% of the time this goes over without any hiccups, but there are always some that have something to say about how I address them. Here lies my contention. My generation is often labeled as a disrespectful generation or a people group who have little respect for an older generation and are lacking the same level of politeness that they possess. Often when I address some males, with the greeting ” How are you today sir”, I get this response in return, “don’t call me sir I work for a living.” This phrase drives me mad, mad, mad. The reason it drives me mad is because I get stuck in a catch twenty two. My catch twenty two is this, if I say” Whats up bro, or how you doing dude”, we continue the cycle of disrespect in their eyes. But if you call them sir they get angry about that too. Please for the love of raising up a respectful generation, allow young people to call you sir and ma’am, of course fitting for your specific gender. Thus we break the sick disrespectful cycle.
I just noticed that today marks a full year that I have been blogging, and my 100th post at PatrickRobert.com. That to me is a very cool thing. Over the year there have been some great times writting and other times I’ve looked back and thought I could have written that better. Over all I am pleased with my blog and am hoping to also improve in in the months and years to come. Thanks for all the comments and reading my thoughts.
Life In the big city of Portland is going good, and moving at a some what steady pace. Although it has thrown its challenges our way we have not been moved from our target of Schooling, and growing as a husband and wife. When we came here I was in need of work and quickly so I jumped in with Safeway and am currently working about 35 hours a week. I also just got hired at another large grocery store stocking through the night 3 nights a week. So between the two jobs I should be close to 70 hours a week. Jennifer is about to become a shift manager at Starbucks and is doing great. She is about to start part time at a well known Salon in the Portland area which she is super excited about. Although work didn’t happen exactly how we wanted it to, it has happened and is working out just fine.
When we came our plan was to join City Bible Church with Pastor Frank Damaizo and we have done that. We attend service Sunday morning and it has been wonderful. A great environment to learn and grow in to accomplish that which God has put into our hearts. I’m also attending a Men’s Bible study Wednesday mornings and a pray meeting Saturday night. We have made some friends and connected with some of the staff pastors and they have been so helpful. Things are looking up for both Jennifer and I. If you would please pray for a great housing situation to open up soon. Its something that we are putting our faith towards and asking God to open up a door.
