Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." Mark 10:27
ALL THINGS are possible with God.
As of last Wednesday evening, we needed $1300 to come from somewhere before Friday at noon to be able to get our plane tickets to Uganda. Guess what? It came in.
Every prayer we have prayed so far since setting our hearts to follow God on this adventure has been answered. At 11:45 on Friday we still needed around $900 and stopped for a moment to look at each other and figure out what to do. Do we commit to the tickets and trust God to bring in the remainder of the money before our check got to the travel agent, or do we give up and not go to Uganda?
My husband said, "God has gotten us this far, He's not going to stop now. Let's go for it." So, I sent the email that said, "Book the tickets." Within 3 hours after that email thrown out in faith, $900 came in and then a little bit more came in so that we would have enough for our malaria medicine. God is providing.
Chris had prayed that morning as we were driving, "God, give us this day our daily bread, please provide for us so that we can do what you have asked. Let manna fall from Heaven Lord!" We kind of laughed as he proclaimed the manna part, but then a friend of ours pointed something out to us. When the Israelites prayed for manna, God did provide the manna, but He only provided what was needed for that day. They were not allowed to save it or store it. The manna fell down from Heaven and they used it for that day. It is funny because that is what has happened to us. Every day that we are on the edge of our seats wondering if we will have enough, here comes our manna for the day to provide for what we need in that very moment. God is good.
As we have been preparing there are so many emotions that assault us every day, and sometimes even in the middle of the night I am awakened with the reality that we are going to be in Uganda for 5 months. Sometimes we are filled with excitement and then other moments panic tries to overwhelm us. But I keep thinking that this is what must have happened to some of the people in the Bible that stepped out in faith when God asked them to.
We've been thinking about those known as the people of great faith that are listed in Hebrews 11 and the priests who stepped out into the raging river (Joshua 3:14-17) after Joshua told them that God would stop the water once their feet hit the water. We read about these people and think, "Wow, to have that kind of faith."
I think a challenge for all of us though is to remember that they were just people like you and me. It says in James 5:17 that Elijah, who was known to be this amazing prophet and man of prayer and faith, was "a man just like us." (NIV1984)
We like to ponder if the priests in Joshua who were carrying the ark and then had to take their first step into a river that was at flood stage may have looked at each other like, "Are you kidding me with this?" I know Chris and I have as we've stepped out when God has asked us to. The greatest thing we all need to remember about all these stories though is that they were people just like you and me. Ordinary people serving an extra ordinary God.
I love how in the verses right before the priests are called to step into the river, Joshua tells the people that God is going to do what He is going to do so that "you will know that the living God is among you..." (Joshua 3:10)
We have lived in amazement and awe this past week at the demonstration of God's hand in our lives. We pray that our blog and the stories of answered prayer that God is giving us encourage your heart and help you to see that the living God is among us all, even today.
I have felt the presence of God this week in a way I haven't in a long time. I will be going throughout my day so busy with details and yet over my shoulder or deep within my heart I can feel the peace of His presence pass by me and give me a little nudge letting me know He is near.
We continue to grow in our excitement as we take each new step into this Haywood journey of faith with God. Thank you again to all who were the answer to our prayers this past week. We couldn't be walking this path without you and your own obedience to what God asked you to do.
With love and awe-filled gratefulness,
Aimee and Chris
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