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True to the Design

Genesis 6:14-22

God gave Noah a very specific vision of the now-famous Ark Project. Build it THIS big, out of THIS wood and do THIS with it. There wasn’t much mistaking what Noah was to end up with, and the details sketched out a pretty clear picture of what he was to work toward.

But, while God laid out the blue print, we get the idea that God didn’t spell out the process and strategic plan to Noah at the front-end of the project. The Bible doesn’t capture Noah’s reaction to what God asked him to do, but I have to think he was overwhelmed with the millions of combinations of logistic options that could be possible in creating and doing just what God had asked. I can imagine Noah trying to figure out the best place from which to source the wood. How would he get it to the building site? Where should the building site be? What would be the best way to lash the wood together and keep it together? And then how would he coordinate the work of his family members? How would he communicate exactly the same picture and meaning that God had communicated so they all knew what to do? How would he explain the project to passers-by who would, first of all, think he was nuts and, second of all, be pretty disturbed by the whole point of the ark?

Genesis 6:22 gives me a sense of admiration for Noah and a sense of comfort in the fact that the purpose and picture of the ark was enough to initiate the project, but the process of getting there was a training opportunity that God would use much more intentionally. The verse says, “So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.” So, there you go! Even though the project didn’t come with an instruction manual,  Noah was still able to do everything as God commanded. That took a lot of intense concentration and discipline on Noah’s part. Noah had to wait for God to share His wisdom as he built. I can imagine Noah pausing from his work and listening for God to speak or work through circumstances to make the next step clear. That’s not a secure rhythm to which most of us self-sufficient, high-capacity people like to operate: listen-work-listen-work-listen-work.  

So, it seems to be with the City Gates Initiative. God has given us a very clear picture of our purpose, and of the shape of the movement that will serve His purpose. That part didn’t take a lot of time or a tremendous amount of effort on our part. God planted ideas and inklings in our consciousness and we believed that they were actually from Him.  We captured what we heard and a blueprint was born! But, as it was with Noah, it is with us: God has shown us what to nurture into existence, but He hasn’t told us exactly how to do it. That freedom to create is both liberating and frightening as we get the pleasure of creating with the Creator, but we have the responsibility of navigating with wisdom and resources that are beyond our natural capacity and often don’t appear until the moment we need them.

We invite you into this faith-building stage with us. Often, when we share the vision God has given us, there is a wave of excitement and then anticipation that we will share the entire building plan. We have mildly disappointed our eager friends more than once, when we explain that God has given us a purpose and a conceptual sketch, but that we are still hammering out the details. Maybe it seems like we lack expertise or that we are not in full command of this initiative. And I think that is exactly why God lets us bear down and figure out the process without giving us all the directions at once, up front.  To lead a initiative like this we need to be nimbly dependent on God, listening to Him, learning to focus intently on the purpose and blue print, while being emptied of ambition and ego that would divert credit for the genius of His design from Him to us. Listen-work-listen-work-listen-work: that is the rhythm with which He is leading us.

In a few months, we expect to be able to say that we have done everything exactly as God has commanded us. Not because we have been expert and flawless at every turn, but because God has trained us to be faithful in Him, allowing Him to create this good work that He began. 

Ours is good work!

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