Are your shoes on?

Today was supposed to be a BIG day in my house, according to the calendar. July 7th. Today the calendar says that my youngest son was going to get on a plane and head to South Africa for the trip he's been waiting his entire high school career to go on.

That boy jumped at every opportunity to go on every single mission trip he could from fourth grade all the way through his junior year. He enjoyed the ability to serve others in many different capacities, he always looked forward to the travel and the privilege to see life in new and different places. But being able to interact with those in leadership at each location truly impacted him the most.

Then senior year hit, and he just knew that it was time to take that giant leap of faith to go to South Africa. It involved a cost almost double the most expensive trip he'd ever been on thus far, so we started raising funds early. Then when the new year started, he got out of his comfort zone and visited various Life Groups at church, talking about his trip and offering his time to help anyone with any manual labor in order to raise funds that way, too.

Suddenly the funds poured in, and he'd reached almost 70% of his goal with still a few months left.
God had a plan, and we were humbled with how He provided so far and how others still pledged to give toward his trip.

But God's plan took a different turn that no one expected, and while those funds sit protected for a future mission trip not even planned yet, instead of getting on a plane headed to Africa today, David got in the car and drove to work at Chick Fil-A.

We knew this year would be a wild ride of faith, which we assumed meant risk and adventure--and airplanes. Instead, the wild ride of faith means crossing off important events on the calendar, retreating in our homes for safety, wearing masks while at work, washing our hands more, NOT making many plans in advance, and taking life one day at a time.

However, we should not confuse the retreat to our homes with laziness. We still need to keep our shoes on, along with our spiritual glasses, so we don't miss the opportunities in front of us. God is still at work in South Africa, just as He is still at work here. And for some reason, God wants David here this summer, not in South Africa.

While at home, we have more time and opportunity to seek His presence and dig into the Word. I look at it as a time of spiritual training for what's coming. It's so easy to fret and get overwhelmed and anxious over how long this disease is going to take away from our lives. How many more events are going to be canceled, how many more hugs do we have to hold back, how long till we can resume our normal, communitiy-oriented activities like church and school? How long till we can travel to other countries and rub shoulders with people far away? How long till we can feel safe around family members whose health we don't want to risk?

I don't know what God is doing, why He helped David raise so much of his funding, only to cancel the trip altogether due to uncertainties of COVID all over the world. I don't know why he didn't get to experience all those last high school activities where he could finally be the leader God has created him to be, like his last summer camp to Colorado, the chance to serve as a leader to the middle school camp, and now the mission trip that he's looked forward to for so long. I don't understand any of it, other than that God wants us to see that "we make our own plans, but the Lord decides where we will go." (Proverbs 16:9--Good News Translation).

While we may not have willingly done so, God is in the process of destroying (or suspending our attention to) many of our idols, including various forms of entertainment, control of our time and finances, even the calendar. Just when we thought we could start returning to life as normal, the risk returned, and we're back to the training ground. Something's coming, and opportunities still present themselves all around us to share Christ's love and truth.

Are we ready when those opportunities come? Or do we have to pause, to take the time to put our shoes on, letting the opportunity slip away?

He's doing something new. He's blazing a new trail for us. Are we going to be ready?