The Hurdles to HWI Headquarters

The Hurdles to HWI Headquarters

On 4/18/10 as I was praying I pondered these quotes from Alexander Maclaren

“Life is not worth living, unless it is the vestibule to a life beyond.”

“Men do not really possess themselves unless they yield themselves to Jesus Christ. He that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth himself, in glad surrender of himself to his Saviour, he and only he is truly lord and owner of his own soul. And to such an one shall be given rewards beyond hope and beyond measure-and, as the crown of all, the blessed possession of Christ, and in it the full, true, eternal possession of himself, glorified and changed into the image of the Lord who loved him and gave Himself for him.”

I read these words the day before going to the DuPage zoning board for approval of doing what we planned to do at our new headquarters. If everything went well at the zoning board then I was left to follow the Lord in utter abandonment, and take a leap of faith. Yes the board had already agreed, but in many ways going forward was counter cultural. God was asking us to trust Him and He would provide the resources. For me, and many of us in America it is much easier to trust Him for the resources when we've already secured the resources.

This adventure of taking the next step by faith is a huge spiritual learning curve. I am finding out right now how painful, stretching, brutal and demanding obedience is. There are the sins of commission (You shall not do something) or the sin of omission (Knowing what I am to do and not doing it). I was in a place of choosing obedience to God or choosing the sin of omission. Outwardly I wouldn't have been judged for the sin of omission, but I knew I would forfeit future blessings from God. I also knew HWI would never become all God wants it to be without obedience from the director and its leaders.

I prayed that night, "At a time when I’d like to hide under a rock and not move forward, You oh Lord are asking me to trust You. I can relate to Joshua being asked to go around Jericho and blow the trumpet and shout, but I feel my shout is hampered by laryngitis and the trumpet I’m blowing is broken. Yes, Lord, I am one of little faith. Forgive me, and expand my faith in You, and may I walk forth allowing the credentials of my life to shine through Your Shikinah Glory on my countenance."