The Presence of God

I come to speak to you today and to share some of my testimony. It has been my joy to serve here at GEM and in South Korea, but this was not a joy I would have anticipated for my life. My ideal joy would have been to quietly live out a simple job in a small city in the middle of nowhere in America. So confident I was in that dream of mine that I was about to purchase a house about 45 minutes away from any decent civilization. So how did I get here?

It is hard to pinpoint when my story starts, but I would have to say it starts with my mother-in-law before I even knew her. My mother-in-law is really into praying and the things she prays for tend to always be answered. From the moment my wife was born, my mother-in-law prayed for a spouse. This led to my wife one day writing in her prayer journal that she would like to one day marry someone and be a missionary traveling to a far away country. Well one thing led to another, and God answered my mother-in-law’s prayer and I married my wife.

But it would seem God didn’t answer the prayer exactly as anticipated. My wife married someone who wanted not to live in a far away country but just far away from people in general. After about 5 years of marriage my wife was pretty much convinced that she had married someone who would not only never live overseas, but wouldn’t even want to travel overseas.

See, my mother-in-law and father-in-law moved to East Asia for missions and invited my wife to come out and visit them to see the work that they were doing. And what I felt was fear and trepidation and a desire to plant my feet firmer in the ground. I NEVER wanted to leave America. And that is what I told God, “please let me do your will, and I will do anything you want O God, but never send me to East Asia.” I do think God has a great sense of humor.

Fast forward a couple of years, and I was facing much dissatisfaction in my job. It became even more difficult when I had two suicides happen at my school back to back. I had to read a statement to the class that stated that they had taken their own lives. And the really hard thing about it was, I could not comfort these students. My hands were tied behind my back because I was not allowed to speak about Jesus to them. I became so frustrated that I began to ask God to open a way for me to serve students in a more powerful way.

God then led me into seminary. I had no intention in becoming a pastor, but instead planned on being a counselor. I wanted to help students get over their problems, and so I started going down this certain path.

But then I felt God speaking to me, and saying that biblical counseling was not the right path that you need to go and get the degree many pastors have. I didn’t feel God was telling me to be a pastor, but just to go and get that degree. So I switched my major.

Then something life changing happened. A pastor came to speak at my church and said something profound. He said, “If you are telling God no, when he is telling you to go, then you need to reconsider your position with God.” At that moment, I prayed and said, “God I will do anything and will go anywhere. Even if that means traveling to East Asia, or wherever, God open the door so I know what is your will.”

And of course I recieved an offer to come work at an international school in South Korea. And things went so smoothly that I know that God’s hand was upon me the whole time. There is many more things that I wish I had the time to tell you of God’s faithfulness to me in moving me to SK, but this day is not about me but about the God that I want you all to know about.

God cares about you

The first thing I want you to know today is that God cares about your life. He cares about what you eat, when you go to sleep, the people you hang out with, the games you play, everything! God knows you better than you know yourself. How do I know this? Look at this passage:

1 Kings 19:3 ESV

Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

Elijah’s life is in danger. I would say if there is any time for God to care about your life it is when it is in danger. Elijah has just killed many prophets of Baal, a false God, and the queen of Israel is upset to the point of seeking Elijah’s life. This is the same Elijah that just called down fire from heaven…and he is running for his life.

Can we just stop and admire that Elijah was a human? How many times has something great happened and then we suddenly doubt God’s goodness the moment something bad happens?

So what does God do for Elijah who’s life is in danger? Let’s read ahead:

1 Kings 19:4–6 ESV

But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.” And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again.

1 Kings 19:4-

Elijah loves God and knows that God cares for him, yet he is ashamed for running away from those who proclaim a false god. Yet the Lord has compassion on him and loved him. He sends an angel to feed and take care of him. Jesus even says,

Matthew 6:25 ESV

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

God promises to take care of you if you are seeking after him.

When you are in the midst of worry, remember that God cares for you.

God speaks to you

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