Monday, May 16, 2011

Patience

I'm kinda patient when it comes to waiting in traffic or helping Riley learn something about baseball. But there's an obvious problem now. I think I'm on the same page with God concerning planting a church in Talitsa, Russia. Surely God wants the people there to know him. Surely it's OK to have believers group together in community. Surely God wants a church in Talitsa.

Just not right now. For whatever reason, it's just not time yet. That frustrates me and exposes my lack of patience which exposes a point of spiritual immaturity.

So what do you do when moving forward is not on God's agenda today? Henry Blackaby suggests that we just keep on doing the last thing we are sure he led us to do. In this case, that would be to pray for Talitsa. I'd rather hop on a plane and spend a week talking with a new pastor, meeting Russian believers, and getting the ball rolling. But God is not providing opportunities for those things right now.

So we pray. We are praying for the Southern Baptist missionaries working in the region. We are praying for a person of peace who will help build bridges into the city. We are praying for one or more believers to come forward expressing a desire to have a church. And I'm praying God will help me be faithful to this task while waiting on the next one.