A pivotal point in my life was when I quit my career and ventured out into the unknown. I believed my daily inspiration had to come from God. What surprised me was what I thought He might do, He didn't. I went through 3 or 4 years of very unfamiliar, uncomfortable territory, not knowing what His plans were, but always being provided for and protected by Him. Imagine that, waking up every day in unfamiliar territory, scared, stressed, blessed and trusting God that whatever you are doing, you can't see the big picture. I didn't receive any revelation about what He was eventually going to do with me.
Even in the way I lived I was challenged. If I settled anywhere where I felt some form of comfort, I was moved out. The two places where I lived the longest were the most uncomfortable. I mean I lived in the one of the best neighbourhoods in Toronto in a house that was literally falling apart and nature was making its nest in mine. The day a raccoon decided to have babies in the roof and one of its little ones fell into our closet was the day I had it with that place, but God kept me there longer. To keep our kitchen window open, we had to prop it up with a piece of wood every morning. The other place was very comfortable except it kept flooding every few months and we had to be temporarily relocated each time. In total we were out about 6 times, the longest being 3 months of living in a hotel.
It seemed as if God didn't want me to be settled, but to keep moving which was exhausting and extremely inconvenient. There was one point where I felt as if I was finally free from all of the moving around, then I realized I was living in the middle of a construction project and would wake up to the sound of hammering, drilling, trucks moving around, the crane moving and people talking loudly. There was always some sort of construction noise. Several years later I began to understand how all of these experiences were the preparation of how God would use me.
I now live in what I call "Construction House" where all kinds of construction production and sounds surround me including noise. This house is broken down somewhat, but it's a castle compared to where I lived before. Why am I living in a broken up construction house? Because it is so much easier for me to live ON the development and construction project I am working on. I hear the noise, but now it's familiar and it's like music to my ears. I enjoy the sounds of production and a productive society. I enjoy working and watching people work in all of the different jobs that there are to do, from the little things to the big things. I especially enjoy working in the construction field. I am happy living where it's convenient, not necessarily comfortable.
Having been forced to move from the flooded house and learn to live in hotels, this prepared me for one of the most incredible experiences of my life: living in over 250 hotels and AirBnBs during the lockdown. What a journey that was and it was easy to adapt to it because we had to learn how to live and work from the hotel studio before remote working was the norm for many people. During that period of the flood I learned to set up our lives for virtual living. We couldn't just return to the house to get our paperwork or things we might need. Little did I know what I was doing then was a part of God's big picture for my life.
Another part of God's unknown plans was the use of social media. I was totally against being on any form of social media. Period. I dug my feet into the ground and would not budge. To ensure that I didn't get on the social media platform, I even kept the old fashioned punch dial cell phone with an antenna for as long as I could until technology caught up with me, people laughed at me incessantly and begged me to at least get my technology caught up to this century. Finally I caved in and bought a cheap one which melted in my pocket one day. Maybe my resistance to it caused it to overheat and melt. A few years later I was challenged to join social media during my personal development journey, so I had to have a smartphone. My strong resistance continued. Ernest eventually grabbed my phone and supported me to get with the times and stop being fearful about it. I wanted to hide from people and stay off the grid. Some years later, living in unfamiliar, uncomfortable territory and using social media would become the norm in my life to stay connected especially as we traveled.
Recently I used social media of all things to form a church group for the English speaking people in the Azores. I would have never ever known that God would use me this way in the future through the platform that I resisted the most, Facebook! This is where I've had the most success for growing the church. Our closed group on social media is called the Followers Of Jesus Azores.
Sometime after I had set up the group I learned that people and churches had been praying for a long time that this would happen to satisfy the need of the English speaking people in the Azorean islands. Imagine God would use me, the resistor of social media to start a church this way. It's been such a blessing to have this church community of people who can become friends and grow together. My lesson is what I have heard for a long time: whatever you resist is usually where your biggest blessings lie, so it's worthwhile to examine these. Your purpose might be unfulfilled if you don't allow yourself to go through or work through the resistance. I've also learned in my journey with God when I am really uncomfortable, He is teaching me something to prepare me for a path in my future. So, I live in the uncomfortable now. You never know, that future path might just be amazing!
