Twenty years after chronic pesticide exposure
left me with Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS) and multiple ongoing health
problems there seemed little prospect of getting any better than I was. Despite
all I could still do, ministry opportunities were becoming fewer and further
between until only those I do on-line remained. But even these were beginning
to suffer as maintaining a large house, lawns and gardens seemed to
increasingly demand more and more of the limited time, energy and health I had.
Doors were closing but none were opening and I
began to pray to the Lord to open a door and show us a way forward.
Unknown to me my dear hardworking wife was
praying the same thing as she watched the toll it was taking on my time and
health to maintain a large house and yard we no longer actually needed as she
contemplated her own array of closing doors.
Then early in 2016 the Lord spoke in a small
quiet voice, and my wife was listening. As often happens with such life
changing events it began with a simple daily devotional and a Bible reading.
“Behold,
I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will
even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:19.)
"In that I command you today to love the
LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His
statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your
God will bless you in the land which you go to possess."
(Deuteronomy 30:16)
And somehow my wife knew she had just been told
that the Lord was preparing a way through the current wilderness for us to a
place we are to go to possess. But where and how remained a mystery. The only
things we knew was that we needed to downsize and that I always seemed
healthier down on the coast than where we were living.
Years earlier the Lord had led us unexpectedly
to a safe set of beachfront holiday units down on the coast managed by a very
helpful couple who soon became good friends. Equally important it was an area I
could safely walk around in each time we visited. But it was only now that we
began to realise why the Lord had led us to that place all those years ago.
When you have MCS the most important test for a safe place to live is also the
most difficult to apply - the test of time.
About the same time we also discovered there was
a nearby church that not only maintained a website but which also made podcasts
of its sermons available online. A spirit filled church that appeared to be
sound in both doctrine and Biblical teaching. It was even of the same
denomination we were currently fellowshipping with. A place where we might find
like-minded fellowship and opportunities to serve the Lord together.
Some might call it all a fortunate coincidence
but when you believe in the Lord you stop believing in coincidence and begin to
see the work of the mighty, and provident, hand of the Lord. A hand that seemed
to be pointing very decidedly to the "where". But as to the
"how", that was yet to be revealed. But that is for the next episode.....
Lord willing, back soon with the next part.
With the love of Christ in IslandBard.
#smallgiftsministries #ttpagoTLa
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