I need my GPS!

I have no trouble admitting that I'm terrible with driving directions. I got my first GPS around the time I first started driving, and since then, I have become very reliant on it. The truth is, I can barely go anywhere without it! Sad, I know, but it's my reality. Without my GPS, I would have ended up in some scary places I had no business being in! 

This past Wednesday marked 6 months since our very first Remedy Church gathering in our home! Since moving to Collinsville last April, we have learned so many things! We didn't know very much when we moved here about God's plan for us, except that we were supposed to move and plant a church. Beyond that, the details were "TBD". 

Planting a church on your own can be a very scary, lonely thing. A lot of people who set out to plant a church, go, knowing that they have a support system offering prayer & encouragement. Other than our immediate family (which I am SO thankful for) we were on our own. We didn't have anyone giving up tips, tools, or advice. I can see now that even that was all part of God's plan to ready us for what He was calling us to do. I believe He needed to get us alone so that we could listen clearly for HIS voice. 

That being said, when you don't have crystal clear direction starting out, you tend to just step out into the unknown and hope for the best. We prayed A LOT before making any decisions or taking any action; but even through all of our praying, we never really felt like God was giving us specific details on what we were to do. We had visions of what we thought He wanted us to do once we got to Collinsville, but nothing seemed very concrete. Through much prayer, we felt very strongly about the WHERE and the WHO of His plan for us, but we just couldn't pinpoint the WHAT and the HOW. So, we set our "GPS" to the WHERE, and we started heading in that direction. Different opportunities arose, and a couple of times we thought we had "arrived", only to hear the GPS (the Holy Spirit) say "RECALCULATING". It was frustrating and disorienting at times, especially since we knew we had input the correct destination. We knew where we were supposed to go and who we were supposed to help, but road blocks kept appearing in our path! It seemed like at every intersection, we would run into yet another blockade. However, we knew we were on the right road, so we kept putting our faith and trust in God - the voice and guide behind everything we endeavour to do. 

This past week, we got an incredible answer to our prayers! Our GPS finally zoomed in on a solid destination! We now have an exact location! We also have some answers to the "what" and even some of the "how"! There is a lot of work ahead of us, but we are determined to follow the Spirit's directions along the way, because we know He is the ONLY one who can get us to where He wants us to go, and help us do what He has called us here to do. 

When you are trying to follow God's leading, there can be some painful stops and lessons along the way, but I want to encourage you! When you come to a roadblock in your own journey, remember this...He may have to recalculate you a few times to get you exactly where He wants you to be, but if you are sensitive to the Spirit's leading, when you get there, you will hear the words "You have arrived at your destination!" and everything you have gone through to get there will be worth it!