THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN…
So I recently traveled to Northwest Arkansas to attend the first church service at a church planted by a close friend of mine, called Benton Bible Church. It was held in an elementary school multi-purpose room with about 50 in attendance. The worship was great, it was a relaxed atmosphere with some in chairs and some sitting at lunch tables. Stories from the small crowd came out after service, one couple hit a deer with their car on the way, and then another couple in their 30’s were in town for the weekend from Kansas City and came across one of the two signs that were out on the street and came in to join us.
My friend began to share the story of how he and his family had gotten to that moment. He opened with and focused on a verse from 1 Corinthians 2:9…
but just as it is written, “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
He was leaning in to the point that he had never planned to plant a church, he was happy here in SoCal as an assistant pastor and teaching at a bible college. He just finished his PhD and loves to teach and has his hands full with 4 young kids. But that all changed 2 years ago when he woke up one night and felt like the Lord was putting on his heart to plant a church. He said he was like Gideon, “who, me”? He had many reasons not to do this… his wife, kids, where to start, where to plant, how do I support my family financially… He didn’t tell anyone but his wife for quite a while, but the desire and leading of the Lord continued to grow and persist.
His first fleece or prayer to be answered was support and buy-in from his wife. He had an email ready to send to his boss and senior pastor but was waiting for the green light from her. That came last May, so he clicked send on the email to his boss. Next up, they owned a rental house in the area of the church plant that had just been leased for 12 months, so he was thinking that he wouldn’t go for a year unless the renters who were adamant about a 12 month lease would leave early. Well, about two months after they leased it they asked to get out of the lease early. There was another answer and confirmation the Lord was leading. Then, came the question of how are we going to do this financially, do we get jobs and start the church, do we raise support here? How much do we need?
I have the honor of being one of his elders on the church board. We met in September or October and were working through how much he would need to get going. We had talked about a specific number that would support them for 3-6 months including renting a building for the church etc… That meeting was on Sunday, and we kind of laughed and said well it might take a few months or longer to have the support to send you, but also knew and said, “but if God wants you there sooner, He’ll provide a way”. Two days later, he got a call from a guy at our church and asked to meet him at Starbucks. It was a brief meeting, the man walked up to him and handed him an envelope. He didn’t open it, they just talked for a few minutes and the guy said he heard he was going to plant a church and the message last Sunday convicted him to be surrendered to the Lord.
When he got home, he opened the envelope and there was a check written for twice the amount we thought he would need before he could leave. Back to 1 Cor 2:9…
but just as it is written, “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
We are all in places today and have plans that we have made for our future. As I listened and thought about these words and it made me think, I can plan all I want, but if the Lord has other plans for me, He’s going to accomplish them. Things we might not think we’re prepared to do, things we don’t feel called to do, at least at this point, but God sees the entire picture and knows exactly how to accomplish His plan. I have seen him work in my life using really tough situations to move me into positions at work that I never thought I’d want or be qualified for. Then those positions opened up other doors to continue preparing me. I’m not sure what His end game is, but I looking forward to whatever it is.
A couple of verses and a quote come to mind from this verse.
Proverbs 19:21 says, “many are the plans of a man’s heart, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.”
It’s okay and good to plan, but we need to be attentive to His plans and understand His plans are always better than ours.
Proverbs 3:5-6 says… Trust in the Lord with your whole heart and lean not on your understanding, but in all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight.
I just talked to the Jr. High kids in my small group at church about this last week. We talked about submitting, and it means to come under. The outcome, a straight path. I’ll take that over the crooked ones that I’ve made on my own!
Lastly, I like this line from a book I recently read called “Win the Day”. The author is a pastor back east and I don’t know much about him, but the book was inspiring. If you’re like me there are things you don’t feel like you’re ready for even if God is calling
you, but the author put it this way,
“God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called.”
I encourage all of us to keep walking with Him and to be open to what He’s doing in your life right now, and to be open to what you haven’t seen, heard or felt, but know He’s working on it and according to His word, He will complete the work He has begun in us. (Phil 1:6)
In Christ,
Scott Wiedensohler