Crying Out to God

His Purpose

I don't always know what to do, or how to respond, when life throws something at me that falls outside my Baptist brain. I love my Baptist theology, training and upbringing, because it has allowed me to dive deeper into scripture and often—for better or worse—put theological matters in nice tidy boxes. Of course, theology is rarely nice or tidy...

For example, I'm really not sure what to do with Gideon and his fleece. Are we supposed to put fleeces out there waiting for God to respond? Does God normally respond to those things? Is it a show of faith or a lack of faith on Gideon's part? How many fleeces does a guy need? (If you have a good "fleece story" I'd love for you to email it to me!)

No, don't get me wrong, I've definitely used the fleece method with God. We moved to Michigan after much prayer, much advice seeking, and many fleeces, but I'm still not sure I understand this type of interaction with the Almighty. I guess I'm a bit of a reluctant fleecer—a closet fleecer if you will—that believes God works with us, where we are, and strengthens our faith along the journey. Sometimes He seems to respond to fleeces as a grace to us.

Last spring, we had a fleece moment in our lives. As many of you know, Traci did not receive the varsity volleyball coaching job when she applied at the first of 2018. It was a little frustrating, but we had prayed for God to be clear and He was; the answer was "no."

Well the newly hired coach ended up leaving because of a job change for her husband, so the job reopened. After talking and praying, we both agreed that Traci would not reapply, and that she would serve the team and the new coach from the JV position. Many parents and teachers and students asked her to reapply but we felt great peace about God's answer.

A week after, another player came and asked Traci if she had reapplied and Traci told her no. This student was bummed and asked, "What would it take for you to reapply for the job?" Traci's response was a fleece: "Justin [school AD] would have to come and offer me the job!" Of course, that was a safe fleece, because Traci didn't reapply and varsity coaching jobs are hot commodities. In fact, this position was posted on local and state job boards, there's no way it would go unfilled.

You'll never guess what happened the ver next day.

Traci went in to meet with the school AD about getting a key so her JV girls could start some open gym practices and…he offered Traci the head coaching job. Amazingly, NO ONE had applied for the position, and even though there are other coaches on staff, coaches with more experience and more connection to the program, he wanted Traci to be the next varsity volleyball head coach!

This was a monumental task and a precious opportunity to connect even more with students, families, and school and community leaders. It's a heavy burden, too, as the varsity coach oversees the entire volleyball program from 4th grade on up. Pray for Traci as she prepares to step in to her second year, and she tries to bring along a team of coaches with the same values and ideas she has to make this program better...and to use it as a vehicle for the Gospel.

As you wait on the Lord, remember that He is always working on your behalf. Sometimes He is working in the silence, sometimes He is working in the background and sometimes He is even working in the fleece. But He is always working, and as Psalm 57:2 states, "[He] will fulfill His purpose for [you]."

Whatever You Do...

Commit to the Lord

Thinking back to when Traci and I moved our family to Michigan five years ago, it must seem funny to God what plans we had made. We knew we were following His lead, and without a shadow of doubt we know that everything that transpired was because of His perfect planning, but we thought we knew the details of His work. We thought we had grasped the precision with which He orchestrates life events and we were trusting our understanding as much as we were trusting His leading.

When everything hit the fan, we understood the difference between what we know, and what He knows; between our planning and His. As created finite beings, we can only work with what's within our realm of knowledge and understanding, but with God, He sees the first from the last, the start from the finish and He sees all of it for everyone at any given moment.

These words of Solomon (put together by my good friend, Danny Ray), remind us to commit our work to the Lord, while leaving the setting of plans and course to Him. Yes, we must make plans and prayerful pursue the works/paths/passions/love that God has put in our hearts, but ultimately we must do so with an openness for the Almighty Creator God of the universe to intervene in order to give us what's best according to His limitless knowledge!

I hope you are committing your ways to the Lord, but leaving room for Him to establish the path. Then, no matter how difficult the journey, you know you are exactly where He wants you to be.