I am becoming more and more fascinated by the wonderful way the Lord leads us and prepares us. Three years prior to Christopher's birth, Woody and I had become youth sponsors in the high school class of the church we were attending. This was the beginning of the fulfillment of a burden that the Lord had laid on my heart when I had accepted Him as my Lord and Savior in my sophomore year in high school. And it was a joy! I remember shortly after leaving the church the night I became a Christian knowing that someday I would serve young people. Here, nearly ten years later, this burden was being fulfilled.
Two years after becoming youth sponsors, still nearly a year before Christopher's birth, I began to feel the Lord directing me to start a class for college age students at the church I was attending. At that point in time, I was leading a small high school prayer group at our house. Although I enjoyed it, the idea of teaching a class of collegians was intimidating to say the very least. Here I was, a person just beginning to learn the Bible myself, a person who hates to stand up and talk in front of people, being challenged to do something completely against my nature.
But here the Lord was presenting me with a new challenge - a challenge to walk in obedience to His voice. Little did I know that this "season" of teaching was to prepare me for an even greater challenge.
I have since come to believe that the Lord calls His people to walk in unknown areas in order to teach us to trust in Him. Our obedience to follow His voice builds our faith. Looking back, the times that I have felt the greatest sense of the Lord's Presence and His guiding hand has been when I had nothing to fall back upon except Him. No schooling, no practice, no resources, nothing except a willing heart that says, "Here I am Lord."
Such was the case with the college class presented before me. Several months prior to being asked to take the class I began to notice that many of the graduates from the high school class had ceased to attend teaching times at church. For many people this would be an understandable course of action for a high school graduate. But for me, the Lord used this observation to stir my heart to start a class for them.
In order to understand how foolish this sense of direction seemed to me at the time, it is important to understand that our church had an incredibly successful high school and young adult ministry already in existence. Both classes were attended by close to a hundred young people each Sunday and were led by schooled, seasoned, staff pastors. For me to even bring up the notion of a new class, led by me no less would surely bring rejection. I began to ask the Lord if this was His direction or my own desire.
A few days later, a young lady who had graduated from high school a year earlier, told me of her desire to see a class for collegians started. I saw this as a confirmation to my prayer, so I told her of the direction that I was sensing and I asked her to remain silent while praying with me, "Not my will, but Thine be done". I also began praying that that the Lord would direct me through the youth pastor, Chuck Atherton.
Several months had passed since I had said that prayer when my wife and I, along with Chuck, who was also the teacher of the high school class, were out eating a snack with some of the high school students. Toward the end of the evening, as my wife and I were preparing to leave, Chuck asked us to talk privately. He began by telling us that several months ago he began noticing that many of the high school graduates were no longer attending classes and how he was sensing a need to start a class for collegians. He continued by telling us how our names kept coming up in his mind as leaders but how he hesitated asking us knowing my aversion to teach. The exact time frame, the exact direction, the exact answer to my prayer, even my exact insecurities were being presented back before me! God knew that this was exactly what I needed in order to believe it was really Him giving the direction.
It's times such as this that I remember how the Israelites in the Old Testament would stop to build an altar after significant events. I try to do the same thing by stopping and building a mental altar in my mind so when my faith begins to waver, I can come back to these places and remember the faithfulness of the Lord. It's fascinating for me to look back over my life and see how the Lord has provided an opportunity for building my faith in every area of my life, whether family matters, job searching, major purchases, or decisions such as this one. I have just tried to be faithful in seeking His will, and have found Him faithful again and again in providing opportunities as well as answers.
The new class wasn't to start for a month, but for an insecure child of God, a month was barely enough time to begin to think straight. I immediately altered my schedule to wake up earlier in the morning in order to start praying for a direction for the class. As the time drew near for me to teach the first class, I kept coming across one word: "Worship".
Now I have since come to believe that worship is the single most important aspect of a Christian's life. But at that time it seemed like the most boring opening topic for a group of collegians that I could think of. And yet, I was sure that this was what the Lord desired. Of course, this is one of the hardest lessons we are challenged to learn - you should not only pray for direction, but also be willing to obey the answer.
I think this may be the reason why the Lord chooses to take our weaknesses to work through us. I have a feeling that most of us would walk under our own strength doing things with our own hands if the Lord chose to work through our areas of strength. I think this is what the Lord meant to Paul when He said, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9) It is in our weaknesses that we are the most willing to be obedient to the Lord's directions and dependent on the Lord's strength. It is during these times His greatest power is able to rest upon us.
Of course, it does mean we must trust Him. It is amazing how quickly we will run to the nearest "expert" when challenged in an area of weakness - a doctor, a lawyer, a psychologist, a pastor, even a friend, but how few times we run to God crying, "Abba, Father". I wonder if it is because so few of us take time to even know the Father.
One morning as I was getting ready to go to work, I had just finished taking a shower and was going through my normal routine of shaving, brushing my teeth, and combing my hair. As I looked in the mirror, I was suddenly convicted that I spent more time each day in front of the mirror fixing the outside of me than I did spending time with God and His Word.
I think it's important for us to ask ourselves if we are denying ourselves of an intimate relationship with our heavenly Father by not seeking and spending time with Him. Those who will take the time to get to know the One who created the universe are promised to find the Righteous Judge (2 Timothy 4:8), the Light of the World (John 9:5), the Advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1), the Bread of Life (John 6:35), the Deliverer (Romans 11:26), the Savior of all men (1 Timothy 4:10), the Faithful Witness (Revelation 1:5), the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), the Messiah (John 4:25-26), the King of kings and Lord of lords (1 Timothy 6:16), the Way the Truth and the Life (John 14:6)! What more could we possibly need?
Fortunately, the challenge to teach a college class was a big enough challenge for me to go running to the Father and stay there for four months. It was during this time that my relationship with God blossomed and became real as He taught me about worship.
When I first began to think of the word "worship", all I could think about was what we do during Sunday morning services. But as I opened the Bible each morning, I was soon led to study something I had missed every time I had read the Bible in the past: the Presence of God and how it dwelled among the people of God. My study of worship in the Old Testament led me to understand that back then, the Lord chose to place His Presence in a single place; over the Ark of the Covenant within the tabernacle and then the temple.
Now this may not be any great revelation to you, but to me this was truly amazing. The God Who created the universe, with stars and galaxies so big and distant it staggers our imagination, and the Earth with all of its forms of life and beauty, choosing to place His Presence to dwell in a single place! The very thought is too difficult for me to comprehend.
But I believe He did it in order to send a message, not only to the people back then, but to us as well. His message is simple: "I love you". He desired to commune, guide, and encourage His people. Even more amazing to me was my understanding that the God of the Old Testament desires to commune, guide, and encourage His people in the same way today. Remember the Apostle Paul's words, "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit Who is in you, Whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?" (1 Corinthians 6:19) God has chosen to make His Presence dwell within you! Furthermore, all of us together are the new Temple, the Church:
But in the early part of December, as I was nearing the conclusion of teaching everything I had learned about worship, one of the most unusual things happened to me. I felt the voice of the Lord tell me to stop teaching the class completely so that I could turn all of my focus and attention upon my family.
“Stop teaching?” I thought to myself. Why would God take me out of the high school leadership where I felt I was being effective, ask me to overcome my fears and insecurities to teach a college class for only four months? Also, why should I focus my attention on my family that consisted of only my pregnant wife and me. The baby wasn't due for another four months and there were no signs of any complications. The only thing I was sure about was that this was the same voice that had spoken to me earlier. I went to counsel again with Chuck Atherton since I was serving under his care.
Not surprisingly, Chuck had a similar reaction to mine. But after witnessing my confidence that this was God's voice, we agreed that the last Sunday in December would be the last Sunday I would teach. Woody and I would remain in the college class as sponsors while Chuck would assume my teaching responsibilities. In doing so, Chuck needed to find another person to teach the high school class. I felt badly that I was causing so much difficulty, but everyone accepted that I needed to obey God's voice.
None of us knew of the disease that would inflict my wife and would force her to bear our first son during the next month. God chose to keep these and other events hidden from us. For now, it was critically important that we spent time learning about His Presence. We can now look back and realize that this time of study and teaching gave us a new understanding of the gracious God we serve. We were aware of God's Presence, but soon we were to experience the Presence of God like we had never known it before. But this time was to be a time of preparation. It was a season of preparation for the special gift from God that we would soon name Christopher David.
© Copyright 1987, 2016 by Rick Murata. All Rights Reserved.
Two years after becoming youth sponsors, still nearly a year before Christopher's birth, I began to feel the Lord directing me to start a class for college age students at the church I was attending. At that point in time, I was leading a small high school prayer group at our house. Although I enjoyed it, the idea of teaching a class of collegians was intimidating to say the very least. Here I was, a person just beginning to learn the Bible myself, a person who hates to stand up and talk in front of people, being challenged to do something completely against my nature.
But here the Lord was presenting me with a new challenge - a challenge to walk in obedience to His voice. Little did I know that this "season" of teaching was to prepare me for an even greater challenge.
I have since come to believe that the Lord calls His people to walk in unknown areas in order to teach us to trust in Him. Our obedience to follow His voice builds our faith. Looking back, the times that I have felt the greatest sense of the Lord's Presence and His guiding hand has been when I had nothing to fall back upon except Him. No schooling, no practice, no resources, nothing except a willing heart that says, "Here I am Lord."
Such was the case with the college class presented before me. Several months prior to being asked to take the class I began to notice that many of the graduates from the high school class had ceased to attend teaching times at church. For many people this would be an understandable course of action for a high school graduate. But for me, the Lord used this observation to stir my heart to start a class for them.
In order to understand how foolish this sense of direction seemed to me at the time, it is important to understand that our church had an incredibly successful high school and young adult ministry already in existence. Both classes were attended by close to a hundred young people each Sunday and were led by schooled, seasoned, staff pastors. For me to even bring up the notion of a new class, led by me no less would surely bring rejection. I began to ask the Lord if this was His direction or my own desire.
A few days later, a young lady who had graduated from high school a year earlier, told me of her desire to see a class for collegians started. I saw this as a confirmation to my prayer, so I told her of the direction that I was sensing and I asked her to remain silent while praying with me, "Not my will, but Thine be done". I also began praying that that the Lord would direct me through the youth pastor, Chuck Atherton.
Several months had passed since I had said that prayer when my wife and I, along with Chuck, who was also the teacher of the high school class, were out eating a snack with some of the high school students. Toward the end of the evening, as my wife and I were preparing to leave, Chuck asked us to talk privately. He began by telling us that several months ago he began noticing that many of the high school graduates were no longer attending classes and how he was sensing a need to start a class for collegians. He continued by telling us how our names kept coming up in his mind as leaders but how he hesitated asking us knowing my aversion to teach. The exact time frame, the exact direction, the exact answer to my prayer, even my exact insecurities were being presented back before me! God knew that this was exactly what I needed in order to believe it was really Him giving the direction.
It's times such as this that I remember how the Israelites in the Old Testament would stop to build an altar after significant events. I try to do the same thing by stopping and building a mental altar in my mind so when my faith begins to waver, I can come back to these places and remember the faithfulness of the Lord. It's fascinating for me to look back over my life and see how the Lord has provided an opportunity for building my faith in every area of my life, whether family matters, job searching, major purchases, or decisions such as this one. I have just tried to be faithful in seeking His will, and have found Him faithful again and again in providing opportunities as well as answers.
The new class wasn't to start for a month, but for an insecure child of God, a month was barely enough time to begin to think straight. I immediately altered my schedule to wake up earlier in the morning in order to start praying for a direction for the class. As the time drew near for me to teach the first class, I kept coming across one word: "Worship".
Now I have since come to believe that worship is the single most important aspect of a Christian's life. But at that time it seemed like the most boring opening topic for a group of collegians that I could think of. And yet, I was sure that this was what the Lord desired. Of course, this is one of the hardest lessons we are challenged to learn - you should not only pray for direction, but also be willing to obey the answer.
I think this may be the reason why the Lord chooses to take our weaknesses to work through us. I have a feeling that most of us would walk under our own strength doing things with our own hands if the Lord chose to work through our areas of strength. I think this is what the Lord meant to Paul when He said, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9) It is in our weaknesses that we are the most willing to be obedient to the Lord's directions and dependent on the Lord's strength. It is during these times His greatest power is able to rest upon us.
Of course, it does mean we must trust Him. It is amazing how quickly we will run to the nearest "expert" when challenged in an area of weakness - a doctor, a lawyer, a psychologist, a pastor, even a friend, but how few times we run to God crying, "Abba, Father". I wonder if it is because so few of us take time to even know the Father.
One morning as I was getting ready to go to work, I had just finished taking a shower and was going through my normal routine of shaving, brushing my teeth, and combing my hair. As I looked in the mirror, I was suddenly convicted that I spent more time each day in front of the mirror fixing the outside of me than I did spending time with God and His Word.
I think it's important for us to ask ourselves if we are denying ourselves of an intimate relationship with our heavenly Father by not seeking and spending time with Him. Those who will take the time to get to know the One who created the universe are promised to find the Righteous Judge (2 Timothy 4:8), the Light of the World (John 9:5), the Advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1), the Bread of Life (John 6:35), the Deliverer (Romans 11:26), the Savior of all men (1 Timothy 4:10), the Faithful Witness (Revelation 1:5), the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), the Messiah (John 4:25-26), the King of kings and Lord of lords (1 Timothy 6:16), the Way the Truth and the Life (John 14:6)! What more could we possibly need?
Fortunately, the challenge to teach a college class was a big enough challenge for me to go running to the Father and stay there for four months. It was during this time that my relationship with God blossomed and became real as He taught me about worship.
When I first began to think of the word "worship", all I could think about was what we do during Sunday morning services. But as I opened the Bible each morning, I was soon led to study something I had missed every time I had read the Bible in the past: the Presence of God and how it dwelled among the people of God. My study of worship in the Old Testament led me to understand that back then, the Lord chose to place His Presence in a single place; over the Ark of the Covenant within the tabernacle and then the temple.
Now this may not be any great revelation to you, but to me this was truly amazing. The God Who created the universe, with stars and galaxies so big and distant it staggers our imagination, and the Earth with all of its forms of life and beauty, choosing to place His Presence to dwell in a single place! The very thought is too difficult for me to comprehend.
But I believe He did it in order to send a message, not only to the people back then, but to us as well. His message is simple: "I love you". He desired to commune, guide, and encourage His people. Even more amazing to me was my understanding that the God of the Old Testament desires to commune, guide, and encourage His people in the same way today. Remember the Apostle Paul's words, "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit Who is in you, Whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?" (1 Corinthians 6:19) God has chosen to make His Presence dwell within you! Furthermore, all of us together are the new Temple, the Church:
"So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit." (Ephesians 2:19-22)For close to four months, the Lord continued to give me passages about worship and His Presence that covered the entire Bible. The college class had grown in size, but it was really unclear to me whether anyone really understood anything the Spirit was saying to me. Nevertheless, I tried to remain encouraged and I tried to continue teaching everything that I was learning.
But in the early part of December, as I was nearing the conclusion of teaching everything I had learned about worship, one of the most unusual things happened to me. I felt the voice of the Lord tell me to stop teaching the class completely so that I could turn all of my focus and attention upon my family.
“Stop teaching?” I thought to myself. Why would God take me out of the high school leadership where I felt I was being effective, ask me to overcome my fears and insecurities to teach a college class for only four months? Also, why should I focus my attention on my family that consisted of only my pregnant wife and me. The baby wasn't due for another four months and there were no signs of any complications. The only thing I was sure about was that this was the same voice that had spoken to me earlier. I went to counsel again with Chuck Atherton since I was serving under his care.
Not surprisingly, Chuck had a similar reaction to mine. But after witnessing my confidence that this was God's voice, we agreed that the last Sunday in December would be the last Sunday I would teach. Woody and I would remain in the college class as sponsors while Chuck would assume my teaching responsibilities. In doing so, Chuck needed to find another person to teach the high school class. I felt badly that I was causing so much difficulty, but everyone accepted that I needed to obey God's voice.
None of us knew of the disease that would inflict my wife and would force her to bear our first son during the next month. God chose to keep these and other events hidden from us. For now, it was critically important that we spent time learning about His Presence. We can now look back and realize that this time of study and teaching gave us a new understanding of the gracious God we serve. We were aware of God's Presence, but soon we were to experience the Presence of God like we had never known it before. But this time was to be a time of preparation. It was a season of preparation for the special gift from God that we would soon name Christopher David.
© Copyright 1987, 2016 by Rick Murata. All Rights Reserved.