OnFire #149 A New Land

OnFire Encouragement Letter

Hi Folks:

This week Dan and I loaded up the canoe as a mock run for the trip on the Shelburne River we’ll do in about a month. We had a blast. For folks from Shelburne, we did the west branch of the Roseway River. There was still lots of water and we had fun running a few interesting spots. There was one set of falls that we accidentally got into. We knew it was coming up, but by the time we realized we were there, we were committed. We filled the boat with water as we plunged through the high standing waves, but held it upright. Then we got caught on a ledge further down the river and waded the canoe to the river bank. We emptied it and then continued. It was a lot of fun.

My big news this week is that I announced my resignation from Shelburne Baptist Church, effective the end of June. In July I will become the Pastor of Family Ministries at Highfield Baptist Church in Moncton NB. We are sad to leave so many close friends we have made here, both in the church and in the community. At the same time we are excited for the new opportunities. While sorry to hear the news, people have been very encouraging and gracious in their remarks. This has been a wonderful church to serve.

I will continue to write OnFire and look forward to getting to know more of God’s family in a new location. The kids are like us. They are sad to leave friends, but they look forward to the opportunities in a new place.

That’s all our news for this week. Blessings for yours.

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We’ve been looking at Joseph as we find the account starting in Genesis 37. We left Joseph as he was sold into slavery by his brothers. This, as startling as it sounds, was more merciful than their original plan, which was to kill him. Reuben convinced his brother to throw him into a dry well, while Judah hatched the plan to sell him instead of murdering him. That left Joseph on his way into a new land.

I remember the first trip I took into the backwoods of New Brunswick. I was a little surprised as I drove alone over the back roads in this relatively remote part of the province. Every once in a while I passed little run down houses with old cars in the front yards and four wheelers parked in the driveway. I thought I’d left civilization and I was a little nervous to discover I would spend the first night at the camp alone. I fully expected the Hatfields and the McCoys to open fire across the field in front of the lodge.

Looking back, it was a very silly impression of the area, but I literally wondered what kind of new land I’d entered. I have to admit, I was a little scared as I bunked down that night. Not normally one to worry about such things, I checked and double checked the doors and windows.

On another occasion, Jan and I passed through Heathrow airport in London just before the Good Friday Agreement was signed between the British and Irish. Security was extremely tight and squads of three security officers armed with automatic rifles patrolled the airport. I was never so aware that I had entered a new land, even as peaceful as it was. I think I checked my pocket for my passport every ten minutes.

New lands often throw us off. We pass from the familiar into the unknown. We don’t know what we will encounter. Will it be a good land, or not? Will we adapt? Will we ever feel at home again?

Joseph was carried into the new land against his will. When he left home that morning, he didn’t think he would end the day on the way to a new place. Life sometimes carries us in new directions when we are not expecting it.

Even when we plan a new direction and place, we still face the uncertainties of an unknown future. We cover ground we have not seen before. We wish we had a map and compass for the new territory, but none exist. It is a new land, and we do not know what we happen to us.

I find myself at the edge of a new land. I thought I was doing alright until this morning. It became clear to me that I like predictability and routine more than I realized. Jan and I are trying to keep life going, comfort a church in transition, and plan a move at the same time. The old routines are all messed up, and I find myself on the edge of my nerves at times. A new land.

I’ve been trying to remind myself of a few things. First is the fact that God already knows the future. I don’t but God knows. It challenges my faith to truly believe this and make it my own, but when I do I find a new confidence in the future.I’ve noticed that God often uses a new land to provide opportunities for us. Joseph could not know that he would someday be the number 2 man in the land. But this is what would eventually happen. As I think back to the new lands I have entered, I can see how God has opened up opportunities I never would have had. As a result, I often pray with people going through difficulties that they would see God’s strength and love for them through those trials.

New lands are challenging, whether we enter them with, or against, our will. But Joseph is another example of how God uses a new land to show us his love and kindness.

I hope this helps. Be OnFire.

Troy

ON FIRE is a weekly letter of encouragement by Troy Dennis. To be added to or removed from the ON FIRE list contact him at onfireletter@gmail.com. Archives are located at www.onfireletter.com This letter published April 30, 2008.