"For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised." 1 Corinthians 2:11-14.
Two and a half years ago we made a decision. It was not a decision that was understood by very many of our friends and colleagues, and even our family members wondered if we'd lost our minds. In fact, even we did not fully understand the reasons why God would ask us to resign from the organization we had served with for the previous 20 years, or why I should leave a position of influence and respect and responsibilities that spanned 30 different countries, to move to a small town in the mountains of Colorado where the only person we knew was the realtor who eventually sold us our home. Humanly speaking, it was a foolhardy, impetuous decision. After all, we enjoyed not only influence, but great financial security. Yet here we were, apparently throwing it all away to follow whispers and internal promptings that we believed were coming from the Spirit of God. Who would blame anyone for thinking we'd completely lost our minds? Looking back now, I am amazed that we actually pulled it off. I know only a handful of people who've made the radical decision to give up an entire career, pull up stakes, and start all over. It's just too risky. After all, we have to be reasonable and wise in this life, right? Surely God would never ask us to do something so illogical - to risk our family's emotional and financial security. He wouldn't do that, would He? "But we have the mind of Christ."
Two and a half years later I sit in my living room at 6:30 in the morning, watching the sun rise over the mountains; and I sit in awe and amazement at God's amazing, inconceivable grace. As I sit here sit here in our beautiful mountain home, I am humbled by the love of God. Who could have ever imagined how God could pluck us out of a place of comfort and security, fly us half way around the world, and plant us in a this little community - unknown and invisible? And less than 3 years later we find ourselves surrounded by a loving, caring community of people - about to take another giant step of faith to start a new church plant in rural Colorado.
How did this all come about? We followed the promptings of God's Spirit, one step at a time. We could never see beyond the next, frightening step. But God gently led us, and all He asked was that we keep in step with His Spirit.
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