Divine Opportunities

I knew that when I stepped through that door my life would change.The comfortable and the predictable would give way to uncertainty, to roads never before travelled and to possibility. It was that last one – possibility – that captured me.A God-inspired possibility is simultaneously terrifying and breathtakingly beautiful. When, like Moses, you come face to face with a burning bush and it speaks to you, you have but two options. Run away in fear. Fall to your knees in awe.I chose the latter.It seems like a lifetime ago when I stepped through that door that presented me with the choice of remaining in my secure pastoral job or leading a fledgling ministry with a million needs and absolutely no funding.I was mother to two growing children. These are expensive responsibilities. In exchange for my joy filled pastoral job, I was faced with working amongst people who were dying of a disease that carried with it many stigmas. Poverty in the village where I was to work was gut wrenchingly high. My task was to bring hope and life and change. Did I mention I had absolutely no funding?I pondered my choices for a couple of weeks but the day I came face to face with a woman living in a cardboard box, my burning bush spoke and I recognized the voice of God. This woman was sick to death, she was alone and her children were outcasts.I stood in the dust of that village and wept.The choice of security or God breathed possibility was before me and I chose. My husband and I took what we had, an insurance policy started decades before, meant for retirement one day, and cashed it in. This then was the seed of what has since grown into a multi-faceted ministry. A ministry filled with ordinary, every day heroes who deny themselves and who give sacrificially. Hundreds of thousands of lives have been reached as a result, which is sacred and inspiring … but I always remember. I remember that within this big number is that one woman living in her box. She died, yes, but not alone. Her children are no longer outcasts but are vibrant young adults with hope and a future.I have had doors of opportunity placed before me many times since that day. Every time it has challenged my security. Every time it has pushed me to be stronger. Every time it is terrifying yet holy and pure. Every time it produces life beyond anything I can imagine.God puts before us opportunities. We get to turn away in fear or we get to strap on our courage and walk through that door. He gives us our choice. But know this, our future, the future of our children and theirs beyond, our heritage and our legacy, our very history is determined by how we respond.At Orchard: Africa we are yet again on the cusp of possibilities. As long as I lead this organization I have determined to trust the one who speaks from within the burning bush.  At the end of this month I will be sharing with you some developments that are simultaneously terrifying and breathtakingly beautiful.  Watch this space.“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory …” -Ephesians 3:20