The sky is striped pink and peach, reflecting in the perfectly still lake as I write this. It’s early morning and quiet.
The peaceful landscape before me is at odds with how the past few months have felt as we transition from one season to another – both literally and metaphorically.
Instead of stillness, settled and calm, our life has felt like an autumn wind-storm that blows colored leaves off the trees and continues to swirl them around like question marks and possibilities that won’t land.
I want them to settle so I can rake them into neat manageable piles, but God has other plans.
In this season, I notice two of the spiritual disciplines that are most difficult for me – waiting, and trusting that God is at work for His glory and my good even when I can’t see it. Can anyone else relate?
There are no neat and tidy piles that I can control. Instead, we pray with open hands and try not to grasp.
In this season my prayer has been, “Help me to be present and grateful just for this day before me and trust You to hold the future.”
As I pray and wait, I’ve been reminded over and over of God’s words to Daniel:
“Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you…”
“Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days.
daniel 9:23, 10:12-13
In these verses I am assured that God is at work even when I don’t see it, and I’m reminded that there is a spiritual battle going on too! There is nothing Satan would like more than to discourage us or cause us to doubt God’s faithfulness.
Don’t lose heart! Look at Isaiah 65:24!
Before they call I will answer;
isaiah 65:24
while they are still speaking I will hear.
Over the past couple weeks God brought to us an invitation we never expected in a million years. We’ve been asked to take a short-term interim pastorate at the International Church of Lucerne, Switzerland.
As we have prayed and talked with them, this is the verse that keeps coming to mind:
It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us…
Acts 15:28
It’s not neat and tidy and there are lots of consequences as we try to rearrange our life to accept this call and go as a team. But the combination of our gifts, their need, and the timing, seem to be coming together in something that may be pleasing to God. We think it will only be 2-4 months, but it has made even the plans we thought we had, tentative.
I share all this in the hopes that it will encourage others who are in seasons of question marks. You’re not alone!
If you have lived abroad for any amount of time, I’d love to hear your advice as we embark on this adventure! Leave your thoughts in the comments!
As always, I’d love to have you join me over on Instagram.
Perhaps God simply wanted to give you a break from the demands of ministry and discernment for s year. Maybe He wanted to give you a year ‘off’ from trying to figure stuff out so that you could simply ‘be’ and enjoy….🙂
Absolutely!
We lived in Zurich as newlyweds 33 years ago. See as much of Switzerland’s stunning scenery as you can! Lucerne is lovely. Try to experience the local culture and people as much as you can. The local chamber of commerce might be able to tell you of any open English speaking groups in the area – – sometimes expats, sometimes people wanting to work on their conversational English. Many people speak English very well, in case your German, French, Italian or Swiss-German isn’t very good. – mine wasn’t! 😊 If they still have Globus stores, that was where you could find American type things that regular grocery stores like Migros didn’t carry. Oh, and the chocolate is amazing!
Thanks so much for these suggestions! I need all the help I can get!:)
I’m your biggest cheerleader for this call to Switzerland. I can’t wait to hear about your experiences with the Lucern Church. What a wonderful city to spend the winter.
Thanks so much, Sue! You are a veteran and I will listen to any advice you have!!