Even There Your Hand Will Lead Me
I saw this video and thought of the following verses.
Psalm 137: 7-10
Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
What a marvelous and comforting thought! To know that absolutely everywhere God’s presence is with us and He will lead us and lay hold of us.
Les and I are continuing to work on VAYA, the Bible institute that will start in our home in January 2015. It continues to be a daunting task, starting a new Bible School to prepare leaders … in another culture and in another language. In other words, it is a God-sized task! And would we want it any other way? Absolutely not! After all, what can Les and Di do that has any lasting Kingdom value? The answer is so simple – nothing apart from God. And so, in this we rest.
Meanwhile, we are continuing to develop relationships with pastors in Costa Rica, Central America and the US. Daily we are talking to people in all of these places. Weekly we are visiting pastors and pushing the ball forward.
We have great support from Carlos Chacon (the Director of the Vineyard Federation in Central America), Elmer Rojas (in charge of church planting and a member of VAYA’s official Board) and other pastors in Costa Rica and a few other countries as well. We currently have 3-4 students whose pastors want to send them and we’re still looking for 2 Spanish speaking students.
The hurdle we are facing is having the students complete the paperwork; jumping off the cliff, so to speak. Culturally, to stop working or delay more education is very difficult. What will your Mom do if you stop contributing finances to her? Will you have the perseverance to go on to University if you take 9 months to do Bible School? There is always a cost to discipleship. And God is ALWAYS faithful.
Luke 14: 25-33
25 A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, 26 “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. 27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.
28 “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? 29 Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you.30 They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’
31 “Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? 32 And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. 33 So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.
It was hard when Jesus said these things. Many turned away. It is still hard today! Please join us in praying that those who are feeling God tug at their hearts to be a part of VAYA, will respond with a strong “YES,” and experience God’s grace, as they pursue His calling.
(Old song – great words)