This past week God has continued moving in some beautiful ways that I’m excited to keep watching.
After last week’s Giving Tuesday request, I have started to see God bring money into my account from a range of sources. I can’t emphasise how humbling it is to have people who have known me since high school, who I taught in high school, and who partner with me in ministry here to high schoolers. It’s just a start, and I still don’t know the end of the story, but how cool to see God moving even when I don’t know the route.
I was struck this morning by the comment that sometimes if we know what’s happening it’s no longer a faith journey. In life, I generally want to know what’s next and how it’s going to work out and the details along the way. Certainly when I plan youth group events, I’m responsible for those kinds of budget and health and safety details. But when it comes to obedience to God in surrendering my life plan to him, I just know I’m closer to Jesus in the end – even though I can’t tell you what the house I’ll live in in a month’s time will look like.
I can tell you that even with this looming housing deal, I’m carrying on with life. I did my work routines and even managed to feed myself each day. Thursday was the last 33K gathering of the year, and despite the smaller turnout, I was so encouraged as usual to turn up and have a coffee and a chat with people dedicated to serving rangatahi of Ōtautahi Christchurch. This city is seeing God move across our young people, and what a privilege to be a part of creating space for conversations about Advent at youth group after epic sponge and bucket water fights and setting up times to talk to young people about what they’re reading in the Bible.
Who’s to say what next week will look like as I carry on towards finding answers related to housing, but it also holds a couple of coffee catch ups where I get to open up my Bible and talk about God at work.
Please keep praying with me for God to make clear the next steps in moving as well as provide the resources I need to sort out the house situation. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t also emphasise the gratitude for what God has already done with creative solutions on the table and the start of donations coming in to raise the $56,000 for whatever creative solution God has. Our extraordinary God is doing amazing things, and I don’t want to take for granted the miracles that make my ordinary life possible when he stirs in the hearts of those around me to care for me.
Keep on trusting.