The title comes from a sermon that Mark Gungor preached to the congregation at Celebration Church in Green Bay a few weeks ago. I like to listen to his daily Internet radio show on marriage, and I tune in to his sermons and Bible studies as well.
In this sermon, Pastor Mark talks about how we and God interact when it comes to life and plans and His will. Christians often wrestle with these things. In fact, we’re wrestling with them as we try to figure out how this transition from Texas to Germany will happen. Our house hasn’t sold yet, and that fact has weighed on our hearts and our heads. But as I listened to this sermon, I could hear God’s voice coming through Pastor Mark’s and feel it reaching into my mind.
The sermon focused on the accounts in the Bible in which we read about God’s eliciting ideas about how to approach the situation at hand. One such time is found in (and around) 1 Kings 22:19-22, in which God is looking for a good way to entice King Ahab to go to war. He apparently rejects other suggestions until one is proposed that He knows will succeed. Pastor Mark emphasized through this example, and others, that God is often watching us for our reactions and ideas. God chooses to work through us humans on purpose. (Consider 1 Corinthians 1:26-27.)
That’s the background for our decision to try a different approach with our house. Pastor Mark asked, “Whatcha got?” and I had to answer, “A house.” This thought dogged me. I had noticed fliers at the office advertising that someone from Wycliffe was now working with a real estate agency in the area of rental property management. The agency is owned and operated by a fellow we know from our homeschool group. “But Lord,” I said, “we don’t want to keep our house.” There are some phrases that you should avoid using with God, and “But Lord …” is one of them.
After looking into requirements and details of renting property with this rental agent, Katherine and I decided that we’ll put it up for lease while we move on toward Germany. We’re offering it up to God, trusting that He’ll approve this idea. Our plan is to work quickly on sorting through the remaining “stuff”, move out of the house into a Wycliffe apartment, and then have a few massive household sales. The house will then be emptied and readied for rental. When that’s done, we’ll leave Dallas and start on the road to Germany.
When you pray, please remember us and our struggle to free ourselves from the things that hold us back from serving the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength. Pray for efficiency, perseverance, and good renters!
