“Then I heard the
voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us? ”And I
said, “Here am I. Send me!” Isaiah 6:8
Why are you going to California? Why Richmond? It’s 'hood. Do
you know what you are getting yourselves into? Do you know how expensive it is
in California? But you have a baby. It’s so different from Tennessee…
These are several of the questions and comments we have
received over the course of planning the move to California. Truthfully, these
are also all questions and comments I presented to the Lord. But, at the
beginning of my protest (which occasionally reappears), I read Isaiah 6.
Changed my perspective.
Reggie first presented the opportunity to pray about going
to Richmond last April. My first response was a very emphatic, very
definite, very clear “NO!” “NO, I am
not taking my son to California.” No, I am not leaving my house.” “No, I am not
leaving my comforts.” “No I am not leaving my church.” “NO!” Hah!
The problem is, I had already committed a “Yes.” Two years
prior, Reggie and I were sitting in Asheville, NC watching a few of their
homeless population. We watched the artistic types hustle, the tourists walking
around, and we dreamed. We said, “This would be a perfect place for a church
plant.” Mind you, we didn’t feel
called to plant, we just saw the need, fell in love with the environment, and
opened our hearts. We proceeded to list people we thought would be “down” with
planting in that type of environment, including the man we believed would be
the pastor. Mind you, he was not a pastor…yet.
Then, we became antsy. We had talks about moving to a more
eclectic neighborhood in Nashville. We told a few of our friends about our
discussion, including the “future pastor”. We even told him if he ever planted
a church, we could see God leading us to be a part. I remember going to a
friend’s wedding in Los Angeles. Loved it, and had the nerve to send my current
pastor a message on Facebook, jokingly asking him if he ever considered planting
“Strong Tower Bible Church - West, as in California". Do you see where this is
going? I had already committed a “Yes”.
Back to last April.
Reggie came home one day telling me that our friend, the
“future pastor” (who was eventually ordained), was led to help pastor a
church-rebirth in Richmond - Living Hope Neighborhood Church. He went on to
share about the church, its mission to love God and love people, how they serve
the homeless community, are passionate about sharing the gospel, and how
they are discipleship and community focused. Then, he reminded me about our
previous conversations (our “Yes”), and encouraged me to at least pray about
it. I researched a little, and decided that I had no need to pray about it.
“No!”
As God would have it, a dear friend of mine previously asked
me to speak at Impact’s staff women’s retreat on experiencing revival in your
heart and your calling. Let’s see - an opportunity to share God’s word (which I
love), with Impact women (whom I love), on the beach in Florida. Absolutely.
Another “Yes.”
So, I prepared to share about Isaiah 6. I went thru how
Isaiah's revival occurred after he was “ruined” after getting a vision of God’s glory. How his being ruined
led to his repentance. How his repentance led to God’s cleansing, which eventually
led to God asking two simple questions “Whom shall I send? And who will go for
us?” And Isaiah replied, “Here am I. Send me.” Obedience.
There it is, plain and simple. Obedience. For a few years I had been
asking God what my calling was. What He wanted me to do with my life. What I was supposed to be when I grew
up. And it was really quite simple. Obey when He called. Just say, “Yes.”
In Isaiah’s account, God did not initially tell Isaiah where He would
send him, what it would involve, or how it would happen. He simply asked “Whom
shall I send?” And, I realized that’s how many others in the Bible received
their calling. Abraham was told to just “Go.” Noah was told to “Build”. Moses
was told to “Lead.” Mary was told to “Birth.” Paul was told to “Preach.” And
Jesus was told to “Die.” But, many of the details came after “Yes.”
So, we said, “Yes.” We didn’t have all of the details. We
still don’t. We still are not sure what our roles will be, or how things will look.
We are still looking for employment, still looking for housing. All we know is
God said years ago “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And we said,
“Here we are. Send us.”
Daily striving to say “Yes”,
Kim
