THOUGHTS ON GUIDANCE (3)

I ended last week’s Insight by saying that while my wife Nola and son John and I were in the USA last year, God seemed to “turn on the tap” of inspiration, insight and vision after it had been turned off for nearly two years. Let me tell you how that happened.

I had embarked on my sabbatical knowing that change was in store. Just what that was I didn’t know, but I did wonder if there was work the Lord had for us in America. Close friends had suggested that the USA was where we needed to spend the next phase of our ministry, and naturally, I was open to anything that might point to that.

But as wonderful as we found America to be, and as many opportunities for potential ministry that there were, at no point did we sense the Spirit confirming a call to any particular task. I know that sounds subjective, but in the light of what I have already shared about the way the Spirit works in our minds and through our natural abilities, I hope you understand what I mean. God just did not seem to be at work in any of our relationships or ministry activities in ways that led us to conclude that he had work for us to do in them.

In contrast, three months into our stay I experienced God powerfully at work in my mind and heart after receiving an e-mail from a church back in New Zealand asking me to look out for a suitable man to serve as their pastor. I instantly agreed to help, but at the same time found myself thinking a great deal about the churches in the South Island of New Zealand and their needs. As I did so the idea of returning to the South Island to help the churches and extend the ministry of Grace Theological College began to grow. Eventually it became an absorbing concern. I couldn’t think of much else, and the flow of insight and creative ideas regarding such a move seemed non-stop.

Over the next weeks, through a series of long telephone discussions and letters, the conviction that we were to move back to the South Island became stronger. The leadership gifts, vision, insights and ideas that had long been dormant sprang back into life. It was though a dense engulfing fog had lifted and the sun had begun to shine again. And with that came the inescapable conviction that God was at work pointing me to my next field of labour.

It could easily be argued that what I was experiencing was simply an emotional release, or the natural excitement associated with the promise of change. I don’t deny there was an element of that involved. But at the same time, there were things about a move to the South Island that were enough to dampen natural enthusiasm. I didn’t relish the prospect of leaving children behind in Auckland and Gisborne, or of relinquishing my role with GTC, or, for that matter, the shift to a much colder climate. These things in themselves would have been enough to make us stay in our comfort zone had it been left up to us.

But both Nola and I were convinced that God was at work in our lives moving us onwards. As we shared our ideas, experiences and convictions with others – leaders in the church and the College Board – they too could see that our move South had the marks of God’s call about it. Though reluctant to see us go they entered into this new course of action whole-heartedly.

This, then, is the process by which we have come to make what for us – and for others – is a momentous move. As I’ve said repeatedly, we didn’t receive a direct vision or word from God, but we believe he has been at work in our lives calling us to move. We are not claiming infallible insight – we might well be mistaken in discerning the Spirit’s influences within us. But at the same time, we know through the love, joy, peace and power that have attended this process that something more than human brainwaves and emotional juices has been involved. And in that confidence we go forth, following the Good Shepherd who – we believe – still “goes on ahead” of his sheep (John 10:4).

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