Thoughts about leaving

I have to be honest. The place in which we find ourselves right now is difficult. It's heart-wrenching. I know now why many do not take on this task - the task of going to a far-away place to begin a ministry that currently does not exist. I'm not even talking about the uncertainties involved or the enormous resources needed, but they are definitely factors in the difficulty of this venture. The hardest thing for us right now is knowing our time here is fleeting. We absolutely love the people God has placed in our lives in Nashville. I've asked God many times recently, "Are you sure about this!" because I don't know if I can do it.

But, as we've checked and re-checked what we feel God has been saying to us and leading us to do, we cannot change our course. He must be the one to redirect us if that is ever necessary. Above all else, we want to obey Him. He has been too good to us. And isn't that why we're doing this? So, others who don't know Him can experience the awesome life they can have in Christ?

God knew we'd come to this point where we wouldn't want to leave and the emotions would run deep. So, many months ago He began leading me to various scripture passages that would encourage me along the way and especially now. We think our time here is fleeting, but our whole lives are fleeting in light of eternity....they are "but a vapor".

One book in particular I've been reading in is Hebrews. Hebrews 11: 8 and on "By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents....for he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God."

Heb. 11:13-16 "They admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country - a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them."

Heb. 13:12-14, "So Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come."

Heb. 12:2-3, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

These verses, among many others, help me to have more of an eternal perspective. They highlight to me the temporary nature of this life and that this is not our home. Compared to eternity, the time we spend here is so brief anyway. So, why not say "good-bye" for a short time to go to a place where the gospel's light is dim and gain more family for eternity. If the God of the universe would leave the comforts of heaven to walk among humanity; if Christ would temporarily, but painfully, sever His relationship with the Father by taking on our sin and letting it kill him, is moving across the country such a big deal? Christ is our standard. He is the only one who can save, but we are called to nothing less than what He has modeled for us. Imagine the joy that is to come when we not only get to meet up in heaven again, but we are actually with God..... forever.