Just do it?

[Jason Bramble]

This is a little petulant on my part, maybe even immature in the Spirit. But if the Lord knows our needs or whatever how come he doesn’t just “do it”? He waits for us to ask(In Prayer) and then when we do it doesn’t come right away. Haha I am just frustrated cos i feel like iam spinning my wheels in life with basically no direction. I’ve asked for something like direction. Should I move to Asia full time? should I bring my wife here? Should I move somewhere else? all questions I ask. But yet day after day I just come to my shop here do whatever i do and go home. Day in day out. I know the Lord makes us wait and stuff, but the world is basically out of time, and I feel like i just am stuck in one place.

Ok /Rant but I just wanna hear what you good folks have to say.

[Greg]

Hi Jason,

Sorry I don’t know you at all or your situation / what you’re praying for / where you live / where your wife is etc… Just here to add my reply.

I think we can all feel like life is just whizzing by and we’re not getting much done. I mean, it’s the middle of June already and the news is saying that it’s been one year since this or that happened, and it only seems like a few months ago. Time is certainly speeding up – many people are noticing it!

Part of life is just the day in day out stuff. Even Adam, before the fall, was tasked with tending the garden. That would have been a regular thing for him to do. And for us, work must be part of life too because things need to be paid for!

I don’t know if your Asia plans are to do with family or ministry… I think the trouble with many of us is that we see ministry as being in some other place, rather than right where we find ourselves at the moment – for you, in your shop. There we are to be the best reflection of God that we can be, and work at it with all our might, as if for the Lord.

Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward.

With your possible other plans though, sometimes we need to move forward. We can pray and wait and wait… and wait, and before we know it, years have passed by and we’re still waiting. Sometimes, rather than praying for God to open doors, sometimes we need to pray something like, “Lord, I’ve asked you about xyz and I feel a certain peace about it, so I’m going to try to move in that direction, and I’m trusting in You to firmly close the door if it’s not the way I should be going, because I only want to move on the path You have for me.” This is not much different to…

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

… but sometimes we have to move forward, trusting God to close doors than wait years for them to somehow open (though that can also happen too!). In any case, as you do include the Lord in your plans, then he has said He will straighten the path ahead – so walk onto it!

With your wife, I’m not married, but if I were, I’d like to think I’d have my wife with me. Again, I don’t know your circumstances, but it would probably be good to be together?!

Now, there is a part to waiting, and the Bible says in a number of places to wait on the Lord… But there’s also a time for moving forward as I’ve said. I think the thing to be clear in your heart too, before moving forward, is if your plans are good plans / what your heart’s motives are. If they are good and you’ve been praying about it, then move forward.

One last thing that I do sometimes is make a list of the things I’d like to do. Then I ask God to take away the things which are really not important / would just be a waste of time / where time would be much better spent do other things.

And the very last thing!… James 1:5 – ask God for wisdom. James says that God will give it to you if you don’t doubt. So ask! And you may see or think about things differently anyway!

[Louise Brislane]

Greg’s words are wise, Jason. I might add this proverb I had a week or so ago that spoke to me. The heart of a man plans his way, but the LORD, establishes his steps. I was told not to long ago that the Lord always answers our prayers but most of the time we don’t hear because we are expecting an audible word from someone or a vision or some other wonder. What the Lord wants, is for us to plan what we feel we would like to do/or should do. Step out & if we are going in the wrong direction, the doors will close. To often we sit back & moan expect the Lord to tell us but He want’s us to trust Him & step out which is showing Him our faith. Also He did put intelligence into us & He tells us to ask for wisdom & then act on your prayer BELIEVING or KNOWING that God answered your request. When you look back in time, you will see the hand of God in the choices you made & you will see that he gave you wisdom. 99% of the time the choice you made was His choice for you, you just had to step out believing in yourself & that He was leading you. Look back at Abraham. He had to step out. He stopped for a time but then when his father died, he again followed the leading of the Lord, not knowing where he was going but trusting that God knew the answer. So good luck. As Greg said, make a list of your choices from A being your most desired choice, B being your second & so on. Pray about the list & ask the Lord to put into your spirit a desire for one of the others if you have got it wrong. If a few days of praying reveals nothing new, then go ahead with choice A & see how it goes… Blessings, I will be praying for you. I have been there, done that in my life, so know how difficult it can be.

[Jason Bramble]

I’d like to step out and try, but Asia is a deadly place if you’re unprepared. I don’t wanna go out there and fail. Especially Hong Kong where she’s from. It ‘s pretty complex. I can try to explain.

I married a woman from Hong Kong. 4 years ago. At first we tried to get her to come here but the gov’t was thinking it was a sham marriage. Even tho we had a long distance relationship for like 7 years before the marriage. I could EASILY go to HK today and get a working visa to stay. However i do not want to live with her parents and her mother doesn’t want me to live with them either. Fair. So I am wondering if i should try again to bring her over or just try to go over there to live.

While I pray for this answer… I feel like i am just wasting time in everyday life. Especially given how fast time is progressing. Hence my post. If the Lord wants me to go live there then just provide me a way to do it. If not please speak plainly to me, because while some of what i call “Super Christians” can hear directly as plainly as you are reading this now. I am just not one of those. I understand it’s probably cos I can’t quiet my mind and stuff, but this is the way HE made me for now. Until the day I can reach “Super Christian” status i am just me. Speaking plainly to me is best.

[Angela Georgantas]

I just now saw this post. I will say that I still pray for your wisdom every day. What does your wife think? Would she be able to hack it away from her family in the frozen North? My husband moved to Texas to be with me. He HATES it here. He complains DAILY that he wants to move (so I prayed about it, but I believe that God wants us to stay). From my experience, I would be very careful about moving her to be with you unless she visits and says she likes it. As for you moving there, God is VERY creative with opportunities. If you have a peace about it, like Greg and Louise said, you might just make the leap of faith and trust God to make your way. To be honest, the reason I knew that I was supposed to stay in my area is because I watched a John Little Omegashock video. He said when God wants you to move, he “unmoors” you — unhooks from everything important so that there is no real reason to stay. I realized that not only were my hooks still there, but He had added a few solid ropes just recently. YOU, however, seem to be exactly that: unmoored, unhooked, untethered in any way to your area — except by fear which is the opposite of faith. (Ouch! That last part just came to me. It’s kind of harsh, but please know that I totally relate and have been there many times.)

Anyway, hope this helps!
Angela

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