Confidence in God
Good Morning Friends,
There are real opportunities and real challenges for leadership in communities with a flow of people in and out. University towns and places like Immokalee with its farm workers have something in common. There is a migration and movement to these communities that have both a great exodus and gathering. Interestingly enough, a passage from the story of Moses may have worked to connect them.
Thankfully I have been blessed to witness the development of this story from the beginning and the hope of transformation and the reality of changes that have already occurred has not only gone to prompt my amazement, but also my Confidence in God.
Scripture: Then the LORD said, “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.” But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” He said, “I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain.”
Exodus 3:7-12 (NRSV)
Message: God shows up in unexpected ways, coming in to our ordinary lives to change them. Who would have thought of a University Town next to a poor rural community? Who would have thought of a University in a tomato field? “God hears the cry of the poor,” was the Homily the day Tom Monahan agreed to build Ave Maria University next to Immokalee. The thought then was that Christian interaction in a world in which God was attentive would help make student’s faith more meaningful. The hope was and is to encourage students from both communities to break through their shell and participate in service. The invitation to the call is surprisingly even stronger today and the opportunity to learn is immense. There is much to learn about the economics, spirit and civic development in this educational environment. Witnessing the whole experience from cries to calling has increased my confidence that it is all part of God’s plan. Friends, have confidence that God’s ultimate plan is to bless us.
Pray we learn to trust God. Pray we hear God’s call and listen. Pray we too hear the cries of the poor. Pray we realize that we all have some form of poverty. Pray we not make excuses to limit our service to others. Pray we follow God’s plan with obedience. Pray we are used as an instrument of God. Pray the experience transforms us. Pray we rejoice, even as God delights in using ordinary people to accomplish extra ordinary events. Pray we find joy and happiness in a relationship with a God who provides what we need. Pray we realize that God does not always look for ability but most often for availability. Pray for those who have come from oppression that they might know that God hears their cries.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 