Mile Markers

What tangible things do you have that remind you of a meaningful event in your life? Maybe it's a photo album of your wedding. Maybe it's a very significant letter or email that someone sent you to encourage you. We all keep some sort of reminders to keep certain events real and fresh in our memory. 

God has always given certain mile markers to His people to help them remember. He had the Israelites write things down (Ex 17:14), learn songs (Deut 31:19), wear special tassels (Num 15:39), erect altars (Josh 4:4-7), and observe special feasts (Ex 12). He gave us the Lord’s Supper so that every time we share in it, we remember that Jesus died for us, rose again, and is coming again. He gave us baptism so that we can always go back to a physical event when we were buried with Christ and born again into His family.

I will confess that I have been struggling recently with a certain mile marker that I am very privileged to have. I even found myself almost wishing it never happened –that maybe it was a mistake. But none of this thinking can change the fact that this mile marker was set up, it happened, and it marks who I am. No one can change it, wish it didn’t happen, or make it disappear. I have audio and video recordings, photographs, and a signed certificate as physical reminders of it so I know it was real and I can always go back to revisit it.

I was ordained as a Minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ last June. Unfortunately, this important mile marker was quickly followed up by the ending of a ministry assignment when we moved to Colorado. That change has now been followed up by nearly six months of frustration, discouragement, and lots of "no" while trying to discern where God has planned for me to serve Him in ministry here. So I started thinking that maybe being ordained was a mistake. Maybe it should never have happened. It was supposed to be a mile marker, not a dead-end sign. Or maybe it was a gift to help solidify what I have been called to, to give me strength in the wilderness -- a gift given at just the right time. 

If I did not have this mile marker to look back on, it would be so much easier to just quit, to give up in the midst of my frustration and travel a different pathway –to just forget the past few years ever happened and go back to an office job and just attend church on Sundays. It would be so much easier. But the fact is, this mile marker did happen. I was ordained into ministry – I have been set apart for service to God. This stake was driven into the ground at just the right time so that in my time of frustration and discouragement, I would have it to look back on in order to help me remember who I am and what I am called and set apart to be.

Thank you so much to all who participated in or were present for the ordination service --to all who made this mile marker possible. Yesterday, I went back to that mile marker. I listened to the recording of the charge into ministry that was given to me, and I was reminded of a few things:

• “God’s timing is always perfect…You have been called by God”
• There will be seasons of fatigue, weariness, and discouragement, but keep your focus on the goal. Go back to the day you were officially set apart. Listen to the charge and to the words of encouragement.
• “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Gal 6:9 NIV).
• “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Cor 15:58 NIV).
• You are not here by accident – it is all part of God’s grand design. God orchestrates events we don’t understand.
• Remember today, June 8, 2014, the day you were officially set apart as a Minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Why am I telling you all of this? Because I hope that this can be a call for all of us to look back on our mile markers to remember who we are and whose we are, and to know that God has created each of us to do good things for Him, things He has planned long ago (Eph 2:10), whether or not we can see them right now. 

Please keep me in your prayers as I continue to pray, knock on doors, ask, and search for what God’s plan for me in Colorado is. Pray that I will stay strong and courageous and not give up, and please let me know if there is any way I can pray for you and for your faithfulness to the mission to which God has called you.