When Does God Meet Us?

Posted by Doug Bentle on Jul 10, 2010 in Daily Bread | 4 comments

Rolling out of my church role, I was grateful for several weeks of rest before starting the next chapter in my professional life. During this time, my prayer was for wisdom, insight, and clarity on my next move. Unintentionally, several weeks turned into months, which was different, but not super-uncomfortable. For 9 months, I got nothing. I tried moving forward, but in retrospect, God wasn’t in those efforts. For instance, last fall I planned a new venture with a partner, but God stopped me. Sounds weird, but He did. Afterward, I seriously evaluated another deal, but it ended up not being a good fit either. Dani and I both wondered why the “next thing” was so hard to find. Things were approaching super-uncomfortableness. (Not a word, I know … sorry!)

Then in February, Alan shared how sometimes God wants us to pray and take action based on His revealed word and THEN He will “meet us.” So the next day I began pouring over scripture, pleading for revelation, for SOMETHING. For ten days I looked and looked, crying out for insight and begging for understanding, like it says in Proverbs 2. I searched my journals for anything I might have missed; hidden treasures the Holy Spirit might have already given me. Finally, Exodus 23:25-33 seemed to jump off the page. It begins; “You must serve only the Lord your God…” and then talks about all that God would do if the Israelites served only Him. Interestingly, He also said it would take a year for the Israelites to become established. Right then, even though I didn’t know what I’d be doing, I committed to serve only Him. I believe He was wanting me to take a step, but with Him as the foundation, not my own experience or understanding.

I kept praying and searching. And sure enough, over the next several weeks one idea morphed into another. By mid-April I had zeroed in on a new venture. Looking for office space God “met me”. After seriously evaluating 4 different spaces, I revisited a spot I’d been to before, but never actually seen. Not only was that space the cheapest, but also a near-perfect layout. As I pushed for a low risk, month-to-month lease, Exodus 23 came to mind. I remembered the year-long timeframe for the Israelites, so I signed a year-long lease. While not gigantic, it was a step of faith for me.

Move-in was May 22nd. On May 23rd, God “met me” again. I read in Numbers 7 about Moses setting up the Tabernacle. He anointed the Tabernacle, altar, furnishings, and utensils, setting them apart as holy. God was saying, “Okay, you trusted me with the lease, now go set apart your new space as holy.” That afternoon my son Alex and I anointed and prayed over EVERYTHING. Offices, furniture, computers, EVERYTHING.

Things are moving along now. Recently, the sun shimmered off some anointing oil still left on a table. It reminded me that I’m serving only God, and that He wants me to step out and trust Him. But most importantly, that oil reminded me to stay desperate in seeking for Him, for His purpose in everything I do.