Apples of Gold
Radio Script for November 24, 2008
“Does God Care Where We Move?”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
Saturday I watched a man take a sledgehammer to his own cabinets.
They were beautiful. Except at the bottom.
At the bottom they were rotten, ruined by the floodwaters of Tropical Storm Fay.
A group of us gathered to help the family rip everything out of their house. Insurance won’t cover it, so it’s become a community project of sorts.
As I cut out rotten drywall, my feelings flipped from one to another, like a restless man with a remote control. I felt sick to be tearing out someone’s home like that. I felt grateful that it wasn’t me. Then I felt bad that I felt grateful. And finally I just felt glad to be on the team. I can’t go back and prevent the damage, but I can certainly do my part to fix it.
We live in a quiet little neighborhood. It’s not rich. It’s not poor. It’s just average American folks.
But now we’ve sold our house. We’re moving, but we don’t know where.
Last week my wife and I consecrated a day of fasting and prayer. We’re seeking the Lord, looking for direction. “Do we rent or buy? Do we stay in that part of town or move? God, what is Your will?”
And my wife asked an important question. “Does God care where we move?”
I said, “I don’t know. I think so. I think He has a plan, but I realize we have to make a choice, and quick.”
So what did I get out of our day of consecration? Well, one scripture came to mind and stood out all day. It was Proverbs 3:6, “In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”
I think we do acknowledge Him in all our ways. We want to serve the Lord. We want our house to be a tool of ministry, a refuge, a place where people feel love and feel God.
So Proverbs 3:6 says that we can expect Him to direct our paths.
What does that mean? Here is what I told my wife. I think we should proceed, see what opportunities are out there, ask around, be wise – and in that process the Lord will direct our paths.
But that doesn’t really answer the question, “Does God care where we move?”
I tend to think so, but it’s not like there is a Scripture that says, “I care where you move.” Yes, there are times in the Bible when God specifically told people to move and where. But there are also times when they just made decisions.
In First Corinthians 16:4, Paul is talking about sending some men to Jerusalem. Then he says he will go, too – “if it seems advisable…”
It didn’t say he was fasting and praying and waiting for a direct word from heaven. He just said, “If it seems advisable…”
So I think there are times when we get a direct word, and there are times when we simply move forward in wisdom.
At this point we have no direct word. We have prayed for it and listened for it, but it appears we will end up doing whatever seems advisable.
And that’s how we ended up in our current house. Three years ago we moved to Tallahassee, on what I believe was a direct word from God. I think God led us to our church. I think God led us both into fulltime ministry.
But when it came to the house – no direct word. No specific leadership, I don’t think. I think we just put together some criteria and picked a house. And that’s the way it seems like it’s going this time.
Oh, we’ve kicked around a lot of ideas. Maybe we should go buy the nicest house we can. Or maybe we should move into a poor neighborhood and try to do some good. We can buy a fixer-upper and improve someone’s neighborhood. We can buy something with lots of space so we can take people in as we have in the past. Or we can save money and buy something smaller.
We can go in a lot of directions, but what does God want? Does God care where we move?
Here is what I think. Unless God gives us clear and obvious direction, then we are free to do what we think is best.
And then the important thing is what we do when we get there. Wherever we land, we are to love our neighbors. We are to shine a light, like a city on a hill. We are to “go and make disciples” and “go and bear fruit.”
Wherever we go, we are to go there with the intention of doing good. James 4:17 says, “Anyone…who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”
Our goal is not to make ourselves comfortable. In Mark 8, Jesus told us to lose our life for Him and the gospel.
So as we pray and look for our next home, we are not looking for a place where we can be happy and satisfied. We are looking to purchase a tool for the Kingdom; a place best suited, according to our finances, to meet the needs of the people God brings into our lives.
When we moved into this neighborhood, I had no idea that I would be helping a family recover from a flood. But you know what? There are needs in every neighborhood. We don’t know what they are, but God does.
So I’m trusting that the Lord will direct our paths. And when we get there I trust that the Lord will use us to bear good fruit.
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
One additional note, I think it is important that a husband and wife are in agreement on any such move. Christian couples sometimes lose track of the fact that their first ministry is to each other, and it branches out from there. There is only one person on the planet that God has made you “one” with, and that is your spouse.
© 2008 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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