...He is able to accomplish infinitely more...

When one embarks on a prayer vigil about a decision of such magnitude, many questions, doubts, and fears come to mind. The most recent one for us has been questioning, "What in the world could God possibly use us for, that would warrant the financial outpouring necessary to send our family to Kenya??" It is extremely humbling to feel called by God to do something that you know is totally beyond you: beyond your means, your planning, and your control.

Thank God for His word! I Corinthians 4:20 reminds us that, "the Kingdom of God is not just fancy talk. It is living by God's power." How do we live by God's power? Galations 5:22 and 23 tell us, "When the Holy Spirit controls our lives, He will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. here there is no conflict with the law." The fruit of the Spirit is not the love we have for those easy to love, nor the joy we have when all is right in the world. It is not having peace when we are comfortable, or patience when we have time. The fruit Paul speaks of is the supernatural outpouring of God's power when our external circumstances warrant anything but love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

We do not know God's specific plan for our family, and what of His work He will call us to join. We do, however, claim Paul's words in Ephesians 3:14-21: "When I think of the wisdom and scope of God's plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources, He will give you mighty inner strength through His Holy Spirit. And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in Him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand, as all people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love really is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now glory be to God! By His mighty power at work within us, He is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope. May He be given the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages."

Amen!