Getting Started

I just recently did a triathlon, and right before the race they typically let people swim a bit in the water to get used to the temperature—in the icy waters of New England this experience normally isn’t pleasant. However, it struck me how similar this pre-race warm-up is to where we are right now in our progress towards France. We have entered the water, so to speak, and are about to get underway, but right now we’re still holding, waiting, and anticipating the start. Raising financial support is like those frigid moments before the start of a race when you’d much rather just get going already. We want to move to France. We want to start ministering to the French. We feel ready. But God, in his wisdom, knows we need this time in the water to adjust, to acclimate ourselves to trusting him in a deeper way. It’s tough, but we need it. The shock of trusting Him in a foreign country is made slightly easier by beginning to trust Him radically here. We feel ready to go, but He knows better. A lot of things need to happen first, not least of which is being fully financially supported, before we can begin. We trust the Lord to know when the time is right, but the water can be really cold.