Leaning Forward

I’m so excited I can hardly stand it. I have been glowing all week long! On Monday of last week, I received the keys to our 28 bed men’s home here in Baton Rouge. we’re calling it My Father’s House. It’s in a GREAT location,  surrounded by numerous employment opportunities, and for the most part it’s in pretty good shape. This facility will give men returning from prison, those desiring a healthier and safer environment to live in, and those that are just homeless to get back on their feet and live the life they were intended to live. We have been praying for almost three years for this very thing – and now its here! Taking on a project of this magnitude is not easy and to be honest with you there are a lot of unanswered questions. Where will the labor and money originate from so that the house can be filled to capacity?  Who will monitor it? Will they be paid, if so where will the funds come from? What if it doesn’t fill up, how will the bills get paid? I could just go on and on. So many questions and very few answers.

My favorite story in the Scriptures is found in 1 Samuel 14. Jonathan and his armor bearer pick a fight with the Philistines and their 30,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and people as numerous as the seashore. Not exactly the best odds! My favorite verse in this story is verse 6, Jonathan says, “come let us cross over and perhaps the Lord will bless us.” Did you catch that? PERHAPS the Lord will bless us. This is not one of those Scriptures that will make it on a T-shirt or a magnet you can put on a refrigerator. In layman’s terms this is what he says, “let’s go pick a fight; God may or may not show up.”  Jonathan realizes that the future of the entire nation of Israel is at stake and their leader (Saul) is asleep under a pomegranate tree and his men are hiding in caves. Jonathan realizes that something has to be done. He doesn’t have all the answers, he’s not sure what the outcome will be, and his strategy leaves a lot to be desired, but if he doesn’t do something an entire nation will be lost. Long story short, Jonathan and his armor attack, God sends and earthquake and Israel is delivered. 

So many times we’re looking for a sign. We want God to do something miraculous to confirm or deny what it is we’re suppose to do. God doesn’t always work like that. Most of the time the information we desire from God comes only after we’ve shown initiation. We know the Scripture, “without faith it’s impossible to please God”; yet, in the next breath we ask God for a sign. Where is the faith in that?

… perhaps the Lord will bless us.

Chances are God has placed something on your heart, that He’s called you to do, but you’ve been waiting for Him to take His finger and write the answer in the sky. Can I tell you, you are going to be waiting for a long time, and a lot of people are going to suffer. Too many times we’re like Saul, we’re just waiting for a sign, and really we should be like Jonathan, we have to do something. Erwin McManus, in his book Chasing Daylight, writes, “Do what you know you should do and you will know what to do. God clarifies in the midst of obedience not beforehand.”

There are still a lot of things that we don’t know about our men’s home. I do know that Louisiana has the recidivism rate of any state in the Union. I know that men are being released from prison with no where to go, every night people are sleeping under bridges, and they have no hope for the future which doesn’t boast well for our communities. When it come’s to My Father’s House, we’re going to try some things and they’re not going to work, we’re going to make mistakes, but we had to do something! The church for too long has been much like Saul, asleep under a pomegranate tree. Stop looking for signs and just go unless you get a no! God will give you the information you desire once there is initiation.