This cactus knows the posture which guarantees that no matter how hot and barren it gets, our hearts can thrive in the desert.
“When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.” Psalm 73:16-17
God’s mission for your marriage will include time in the desert. Time in the desert is Biblical. Time in the desert is beneficial. But, we know first hand that it sure doesn’t feel that way when you’re in the middle of it.
This week as we’ve served in Phoenix, I’ve been struck by the vivid colors of the blossoms on the cacti here. Hedged in by thorns and set against earthen hues, the flowers radiate with intensity and color. There is life and beauty in the desert. You just have to look a little harder for it.
Yes, the desert has it’s drawbacks. The desert has its downside. But, when our hope is based on God’s promises we can be assured that as we journey, “Water will gush forth in the wilderness streams in the desert.” Isaiah 35:6
Download our “Do the Desert Well” resource here.
When God began to call our marriage and ministry off the beaten path several years ago, we started searching His Word. There, we realized how much God loves to show up in the least likely places.
The list goes on and on. In addition, we know that Jesus Himself walked on the less-trodden ways as He often left crowds to go to lonely places to pray and meet with the Father.
It was through our studies and experiences, as we longed to discover God’s mission for our marriage, that we realized our marriage and ministry must extend to the least likely places as did Jesus’ ministry on the earth. And, we’ve been there, let me tell you! We’ve traveled at midnight through the cornfields of Ohio to meet with a man whose marriage was in crisis. We’ve pulled off freeways, trekked up mountain paths, served on islands, and in small town U.S.A. But honestly, we wrestled with this concept, at first.
Our pride and selfish ways were thinking about the crowds and the mega-church ministries. But, Jesus kept drawing us away…not to minister to the masses, but to love on the one. And now, we know of no other way…and no greater calling. Forgive us, Lord, for being slow to understand.
If you’re willing, you will find Jesus in some very, very faraway places…both in times of ministry and personally, in your individual walk with Him.
Personally, since God called us to move 3,000 miles away from family and friends, I’ve often felt like Ezekiel at the River Kebar, sitting among the exiles. But, being away from family, friends, and every familiar has caused me to press into Christ in a way I’ve never known. And, even though it is still very difficult, I know that had Jesus not drawn me away, there would never be the deep intimacy in my relationship with God and in our marriage. My exile has become God’s gateway to the Promised Land.
Oftentimes, God’s mission for your life will include periods of exile. Because truly discovering God’s mission is not about building a big ministry, reaching some lofty destination, or attaining some grand accomplishment. It’s about finding your Destiny (your wholeness) in Christ.
He is our Promised Land.
God has a mission for EVERY marriage. Satan has a plan to abort the mission at any cost. Just this week, we received notice of two more divorces that have been finalized. However, we also learned that reconciliation is in process for several other couples. We encourage you to download our new PRAYER GUIDE to intercede more effectively for marriages in need. “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” Ephesians 6:18
This photograph was taken at the site of the Emmaus experience recorded in Luke 24…a place that is about seven miles outside Jerusalem. It was here that two of Christ’s disciples were joined by a Divine third party visitor. And, their lives were never the same again. Luke 24:32 reads, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
It is significant that this meeting took place outside the hustle and bustle of the city. It exemplifies a secret that we have discovered over the last five years of our marriage and ministry together. Namely, that we, the Bride of Christ, discover our true purpose when we search for and meet with our Bridegroom off the beaten path…When we let Jesus take our lives onto the roads less traveled…When we are willing to hear Him and obey as He beckons, “Come away with Me.”
While much of our overseas mission included the filming of lessons we’d planned and prepared for in advance, one of our main goals was also to record several “unscripted” videos as things unfolded. Our hope in recording these videos was to allow people to peek inside the mission as we worked through unexpected events, challenges, and trials.
Our first plan was to upload the unscripted videos right after they were recorded, but due to limited technology and Internet connectivity overseas, we had to scrap that plan and trust God’s purposes. Since returning home last week, we’ve started posting the unscripted videos on our Marriage on a Mission video gallery and on Facebook. We will post additional videos in the coming weeks. We hope the lessons we learned along the way will be an encouragement to you.
It’s been five days since we returned from the Holy Land, a journey we prayed about for three years. The purpose of the trip was to take our own marriage on a mission to simulate and record what we believe couples go through as they set out to discover God’s mission for their marriages. And then, to translate our experiences for couples through various forms of media, curriculum, seminars, and retreats. (New “unscripted” videos will be posted on our Marriage on a Mission video gallery regularly.)
Three years of praying. Three years of planning. Three years of preparing for a mission that would only last sixteen days. It sounds pretty foolish when I say it like that, but I know, according to God’s Word, we’re in good company…with a whole host of other “fools” who have gone before us.
Since we’ve returned, we’ve been feverishly viewing and logging in the lessons we recorded, scanning through photos, and reviewing all our notes. We’ve been asking God for confirmation from His Word as to how we are now to go about processing and synthesizing our experiences for others. And, His response only adds to our blessed condition of being fools for Christ: that we must now spend time praying, planning, fasting, seeking, searching, etc. with as much vigor and intention as we did before we left. We must dig down deeply into Him again and again (and again!) in order to bear fruit upward for His kingdom. Sounds just like God, doesn’t it?
“Once more a remnant of the kingdom of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above. For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” Isaiah 37:31-32
My brain is far too scrambled with jet lag to write this post, but I am filled so with gratitude to God for who He is. And, He deserves ALL the praise and glory for our Marriage on a Mission experiences over these past two weeks, scrambled brain or not! In addition, I must note something significant for all those of you who are desperately waiting for God to answer a specific prayer right now.
We were so exhausted and anxious to finally rest our heads in our own bed last night, but God had a different plan…a Divine delay. When we arrived in Newark, New Jersey from Tel Aviv yesterday afternoon, all we wanted to do was get on the plane to Orlando and get home. However, our flight was delayed three hours. Not until we finally arrived home at 2:00AM this morning, March 1st, did we understand the gift in our delayed homecoming.
March 1st marks a special anniversary…a Divine delay of another sort: our first contact in over a decade following our divorce. On March 1st, 2002, God re-intersected our lives and answered an eleven-year old prayer for Clint, the return of his wife. (His wife is moved to tears as she writes this, scrambled brain and all!)
All of that to say that if today, you are waiting for God to fulfill a desire or answer a prayer from your heart…and what you desire only seems to elude your grasp…KEEP PRAYING. We testify to the truth that you can trust God and His reasons for delaying what you desire. Whether it’s a three-hour dealy or an eleven-year delay…He hears your prayers. He knows your longings. He will answer in His time. His delays are always about our faith. We must only pray and believe.
“And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:7-8
The longer we journey with Christ, the more He impresses upon our hearts that with Him, we must always expect the unexpected. ALWAYS. He reminded us of this truth again this afernoon as we finished up our last few hours of this mission. This photo is the perfect visual for what we’re trying to explain…colorful snapdragons growing from the edifice of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem–a church that marks the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. How fitting. We had only entered the courtyard of the church to escape the crowds and rest our feet for a few minutes. It was during our time of rest that we noticed the flowers growing about twenty-five feet up near the entrance of the church. Looks just like something God would do, doesn’t it?
What a reminder to us that we serve a God who can bring forth water from a rock (or grow flowers from hard stone!). We believe in a God who can take a dead marriage and breathe new life into it. We love a God who delights in giving unmerited gifts to His children. And, we worship a God in whom all things truly are possible. All things!
Little did we know that in order to film at the Jordan River today, we would have to ask God to part those waters one more time, just like He did for the Israelites. While we had talked through, prepared for, practiced, and prayed over EVERYTHING we knew we had to accomplish at the Jordan River, we failed to take one thing into consideration: the distance from hotel to the site at the Jordan that our guide had reserved for us. We assumed, from our reading and planning, that we would be at the Jordan within thirty minutes. So, we figured we would leave the hotel at 9:00AM, set-up and start filming by 10:00AM. A perfect plan!
The drive to Jordan took two hours. To complicate things, it began to rain about ninety minutes into the drive. All our plans were wiped away and Plan Faith came into play once again, as it has throughout this entire mission.
As soon as we arrived at the site, we were led to a very quiet, private area alongside the Jordan. It was so peaceful at the banks of the river, completely set apart from the crowd of people waiting to be baptized. Before setting anything up, we prayed together, surrendering our plans and timelines to God once again. We couldn’t see any possible way that we could get everything filmed given the time we had spent on the road, the impending rain, and the time we needed to return to Jerusalem. Once again, our faith proved to be too small. But God! After all, we were at the Jordan River and the same God who parted the waters for Joshua and the Israelites is the same God we serve today, right?
Not only did we finish early, but God held off the rain and we
got MORE accomplished than we had originally planned. We must also mention that the two-hour drive to and from the site was absolutely stunning. We never expected to see so much of God’s holy land. While we were focused on the destination, God was all about the journey, as is so often the case.
Once again, God parted the Jordan and allowed us to pass through on dry ground. Thank goodness for my Plan Faith shoes as they continually remind both of us that although we cannot control what lies ahead, all that God requires of us is to believe.
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