Refinement and Revelation

Spring has arrived and with the beautiful, warm sunshine has come a new excitement about life and a restored sense of purpose in our hearts of why we are here and what we feel God is asking of us. During the winter months we were busy getting settled into life here in Orlova, learning the language and trying to figure out where we fit in the church that we are working with. It truly was a time of refinement for our hearts and of definition for our ministry. As so often is the case, God had different plans for us than we had realized and as we stepped forward into this new adventure it became abundantly clear that what we had thought we had come to accomplish was not exactly what God had planned. As our circumstances continued to unfold and everything around seemed so uncertain, dark, and out of control we came to a place that we felt very defeated and discouraged. We were not sure what God was trying to do and we so badly desired to follow His leading but were unsure of what He was asking of us.

Through the help of some of our dear missionary friends and a very committed Multnomah Seminary professor, God began to make it clear that this season of confusion, frustration, and doubt were meant to stir some things in our hearts and to purify us as His servants. There were many areas that we needed to hand over to Him with full confidence and allow His love to flow through us and His grace to perfectly cover us. At the end of all of our struggling and wrestling to discover His will, God desired for us to simply come to Him and what He desired from us was full obedience. So often we try to make God's will so complicated but He simply was asking us to trust and obey, cliché sounding I know, but beautiful when it is truly lived out.

Don't get me wrong, obedience is no small task. Obedience is costly, demanding, and all consuming, but it is a natural outpouring of a love relationship with our God. When we love Him and respond in obedience, our obedience not only draws us closer to His heart but it allows others around us to encounter God in fresh, relevant, and practical ways. They are invited to surrender their lives in obedience, not out of guilt, shame, or expectation but out of love...love is the only setting that allows trust and obedience to not only become a natural response but to also bear fruit.

We are still in midst of uncertain circumstances. The area of the world that we are serving in is still very dark and often times lacks optimism and hope, but our hearts are not the same as we move through this process. Our God has been faithful, gentle, and kind as He has seen us as worthy of redemption and has not given up on these hearts that must be purified by His Holy fire. We still have many lessons to learn on how to fully trust, love, and obey but for now we are moving forward one day at time and humbly bringing the pieces before God and asking that He teach us how to respond. With the new Spring has come hope that God has not forgotten us. In His graciousness He so lovingly brings us back to Himself and allows us to see that He is the giver of new life, He is the reason for deep and never ending hope, and He is the source of love that transforms lives.