Monday, October 20, 2008

Burning Bushes

When you make a decision to change your life in a radical way like we have, many times you have doubts. You start to think that maybe you aren't hearing from God. The pendulum swings from just dropping everything and returning home (whatever that is), to wondering if you are crazy. I've come to realize that when we really think about it, looking through the lens of our own human perspective, we are crazy, and none of this makes any sense. What good are we doing? What exactly are we doing? These questions hit me hard sometimes. Eventually, the Lord speaks softly to my soul, encourages me through my wife, or through random people we have met and gotten to know. Here are some things I have really been thinking about lately that makes all of this crystal clear.

Jesus’ Kingdom is not of this world, it doesn’t make sense to man. Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." (John 18:36)

Here are a few things that don't make sense when looked at through our human lens:

  • Love your enemies
  • Be happy and rejoice when people say bad things about you
  • If someone hits you on your right cheek, offer him your left
  • If a soldier asks you to carry his pack a mile, carry it two
  • Give everything to the poor
  • If a man sues you for your shirt, give him your coat too
  • The first will be last and the last first
  • You must die to truly live
This is just a few of the things that show that Jesus' Kingdom is not our kingdom, His ways are not our ways. If we are doing things that don't make sense, and we are fervently seeking His face, we can probably assume that we make sense in His Kingdom, but not in this one.


He has been giving us little burning bushes, little signs of His presence. One, is our own life transformations. He is aligning us more and more with His ways, He is renewing our minds, which He promises He will do when we seek Him. This is evident in our desire to love on people who many consider "unlovable." We have a deep desire to love on people we don't know, simply because Christ has asked us to -- this is a miracle in our own hearts.

Another example is the people He has had cross our path, the list is long, but sprinkled across the country from Boise, to Spokane, to KC and Denver, to Chicago and Grand Rapids, to Cleveland and now Boston, the Lord has put people in our paths who have fed us, who have loved us, who have accepted and encouraged us. This, in itself, is a miracle.

Finally, our support has been fantastic. Not only has the Lord provided through you guys back at home for our basic needs as a family, but our monthly mortgage has been covered the past 4 months - Thank you Jesus! If you haven't heard what we want to do with our home in Hubbard, Oregon, check out Serenity's blog for an explanation. All of this has been another miracle, and if we don't slow down enough and look around us we will miss the things God is doing each and every day, confirmation that the Lord is walking along side of us. I get the picture that He is walking up and down the sidelines like a coach, clapping and smiling, excited about the work we are doing.

Burning Bushes by Andy Gullahorn

I’ve never seen a dead man come to life
or seen a blind man get his sight.
I’ve never seen water turned to wine.
It isn’t that I don’t believe
but it would be easier for me
if you would just send down a sign.
I remember the childlike innocence.
A faith with no coincidence.
The world around was living proof.
Has that world just disappeared
or is it me that isn’t clear how to recognize its you.

I’m praying for a miracle to let me know you’re listening.
Waiting for a lightning bolt to strike.
Walking through a garden of a thousand burning bushes
looking up to heaven for a sign.

I walk through the water and the waves
looking for a drop of rain
but you’re still not coming through.
Maybe its new eyes that I need
or maybe it takes more faith to see
I’m drowning in the truth.

We arrived on the East Coast exactly 4 months from when we left on June 16th. Also, I figured that it would take about 7,000 miles of driving on veggie oil before we would break even with the engine conversion. When we left Portland our odometer read just over 98,000 miles. Sitting in Boston it now reads 105,199. We have driven over 7,000 miles -- we are in the black baby!!!

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