Looking Back to See the Way Forward

     I have always been fascinated by the way certain characters in the Biblical text stop at very important transitions in their lives and re-tell the history of the Jewish people. They often do this just as the people of God are embarking on some new adventure or plan for the future. That doesn't seem to be the way we do it these days. Modern leadership gurus tell us we need to focus on that end result, that thing that we want to achieve, that place where we want to end up. We hype up the crew with words of confidence about how we can get there. We tell them that we have the the unique experience, vision, skills, talent, etc to make it.
     The Bible likes to look backwards, re-telling the story of how we got to where we are today. But the stories don't focus on our great achievements. They don't recount how the 7 great wonders of the world were created. They don't talk about how humanity put together a "dream team" to solve the days pressing problem. The stories all focus on what God did. They talk about how when we were stopped in our tracks, God came through. They talk about when all was lost, God acted.
     How many times do we retrace what God has done in our lives? How many times do we do this as part of our plan for the future? One of the great things about being a missionary is that people are always asking us how we got to the mission field. We have told and retold the stories of how God brought me to the place where I would even consider missions. We tell the story of how God allowed us to go to new missionary orientation during the school year and how Ruth got paid time off to do that. We tell the story of how God protected me from a community that was intent of sending a message in no uncertain terms that they didn't want a new church in their community.
     As we move into this new phase of ministry and look to the future, I find myself wondering if it will become a reality. I wonder if I am up to the task. I wonder if we will have the resources to pull it off. And then I find myself retelling those stories in my head.... and I realize that I am only here today because God acted. And if I ever get to that goal in the future, it will also be because God acted. That is a comforting thought...

Doug