Already On The Way

Summer of Celebration Series …

Celebrating the Faithfulness of God in Ordinary Places

It was a warm, sunny morning in Florida several years ago when I was out walking and praying, and I felt the Lord stop me in my tracks.

“Go to Africa,” I heard in my spirit.

But Lord, I don’t do Africa..

You said you would go anywhere, anytime.

Fair enough.

When am I going to Africa?

Less than a month later, I was on a plane to Africa for the very first time.

There was a lot that happened in that month, but that morning a seed was planted. As it has been watered over the years, you have spent this summer reading about some of its fruit.

But when I received that instruction, I had a choice to make.

I could have said, Lord, I don’t have the money to go.

That would have been true.

I could have listed all the reasons it didn't make sense.

There were plenty.

I could have simply said no.

Instead, I chose to believe that I had heard the Lord, and I took the next step.

My physical reality looked nothing like someone preparing for an international missions trip. I had been a widow for less than two years. I was behind on my house payments. I didn't even have the $25 registration fee required to sign up for the trip.

But I believed the Lord was calling me to go.

On that same walk, I began asking all the questions you would expect. What trip? How am I going to pay for it? What am I supposed to do next?

The Lord helped me write a fundraising letter and impressed upon me to send it to ten people.

So I did.

Within 26 hours, more than the $2,700 needed for the mission trip was sitting in my account.

God had made it abundantly clear that I was to go.

And I went.

Oh, and two fun facts.

Twelve people—not ten—donated during those first 26 hours. And the money didn't stop coming. I was overfunded and able to contribute toward the rest of the team.

God showed up and showed off, as they like to say.

Another Team. Another Step of Faith.

This summer, as we prepared to send a team of ten people to South Africa to do Vacation Bible School with children there, I had the privilege of talking with the team.

Most had never been to South Africa, so I shared some of what they might encounter. Somewhere in those conversations, I learned that many of them were struggling with fundraising.

I understood.

I used to hate fundraising because I felt like I was asking other people to fund what I wanted to do.

But somewhere along the way, the Lord changed my understanding.

Fundraising is an invitation.

I am inviting people to join the Lord in what He is doing.

My responsibility is obedience. If He tells me to go, I go. If He tells me to ask, I ask. Whether someone gives is between that person and the Lord.

That truth has taken so much pressure off.

I am no longer asking people to finance God's assignment for me. I am inviting them into His story.

And if God is truly asking me to go, I can trust Him with what is needed to accomplish what He has asked.

Spoiler alert: I may not always like His timing.

The team preparing to go raised funds in two parts. Each individual raised a certain amount to cover personal expenses, and then the team raised additional money for the ministry portion of the trip—the VBS, generosity on the ground, and the many miscellaneous expenses that come with serving.

They did all the normal things.

They held fundraisers. They asked friends and family. They reached out to the community.

And as departure approached, they were still short of their goal.

Seven days before leaving, one last fundraiser began on social media: asking 100 people to give $32 toward a specific ministry expense.

Two were covered.

Then another.

Then another.

But departure day kept getting closer, and they still had not reached the goal.

So they made a decision.

Either God would provide the rest, or they would make do with what they had.

They were going anyway.

Departure day arrived.

The bags were packed.

The team was literally on the way to the airport when the call came.

A large donation had been received.

The fundraising goal was complete.

They were on their way—physically and financially.

And even after they had been in South Africa for several days, that social media campaign continued bearing fruit. Additional money came in, giving the team more resources to pour into the people they had traveled there to serve and love.

God never sends extra.

He sends what is needed.

And every dollar was needed.

Faith Doesn't Always Get the Map

There is a pattern throughout Scripture that I have come to recognize in my own life:

God often gives the instruction before He reveals the provision.

When God called Abraham, He said:

“Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.”
—Genesis 12:1

Not the land I have already shown you.

The land I will show you.

Abraham had to leave before he knew exactly where he was going.

When Israel stood at the Jordan River, the priests carrying the ark were instructed to walk toward a river that was overflowing its banks. The water did not stop while they stood safely on dry ground discussing whether God's plan made sense.

Their feet went into the water.

Then the river stopped.

Joshua 3:15–16 tells us that when the priests' feet touched the water's edge, the water upstream stopped flowing.

The step came before the visible way through.

And perhaps one of the clearest pictures is Abraham walking up Mount Moriah with Isaac.

Isaac asked the obvious question:

“Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

Abraham answered:

“God himself will provide the lamb.”

And He did.

But the ram was not waiting at Abraham's tent when God gave the instruction.

The provision was discovered on the mountain of obedience.

That doesn't mean every risky idea we have comes with God's guarantee of provision. Faith is not presumption. Biblical faith isn't deciding what we want to do and expecting God to finance it.

Faith begins with hearing Him.

Then comes obedience.

And sometimes obedience means taking the next step while there are still unanswered questions.

Hebrews 11:8 says:

“By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.”

He obeyed and went.

Those words challenge me.

He didn't understand and then obey.

He obeyed and went.

What Are You Waiting For?

I am a planner and an organizer.

I like everything lined up, funded, scheduled, confirmed and ready before I begin.

I would prefer God give me the itinerary, the budget, the confirmation number and preferably a backup plan before asking me to leave the house.

But following Him has rarely worked that way.

Instead, He has been teaching me a radical kind of faith—a growing confidence that when I am walking on the road of obedience, what I need will be there when I need it.

Not always when I want it.

Not always in the way I expected it.

And certainly not always on the timeline that makes me comfortable.

But He is teaching me to trust Him enough to take the next step.

Maybe your Africa isn't Africa.

Maybe God is asking you to begin something.

End something.

Give something.

Go somewhere.

Speak to someone.

Forgive someone.

Serve somewhere.

Say yes to something that feels far bigger than the resources currently sitting in your hands.

And perhaps you have been waiting.

Waiting until you can see how it will work.

Waiting until the money is there.

Waiting until you feel qualified.

Waiting until the circumstances make sense.

Waiting until you aren't afraid.

But what if the provision isn't waiting before your obedience?

What if some of what God has prepared can only be discovered along the road of obedience?

You don't need to see the whole road to take the next step.

You need to know the One who asked you to walk it.

Faith doesn't require seeing the way.

Faith requires trusting the One who does.

So perhaps the question isn't:

Lord, how is this going to work?

Perhaps the question is simply:

Lord, what is my next step?

And then, when He shows you—

go.