Exodus to the Promised Land

Well you may think I'm just trying to be smart, witty or cute or maybe you may think I'm religious by choosing the title of this post but I promise you that it is none of the above.  It is really how Mike and I feel about our journey this last year, and specifically how we feel about our move back to Abilene.  We have literally felt like the modern day equivalents to the Israelites in the wilderness for 40 years.  I'm certainly grateful that it didn't take us that long to realize God has bigger things in store for us though!! We can identify with them in so many ways.  The entire time they were out there God was trying to do something great for them, but they kept getting in the way!  Unbelief, disobedience, you name it, we've likely done it in sometime in the last year. But you know what? I'm so grateful for the wilderness! I really am.  I am so grateful what He has shown me about mercy, about compassion & forgiveness.  I am so thankful for God teaching me about stewardship, leadership and daily provision.  To not "hoard" his provision for another day,  but to come to Him daily for fresh provision! And mostly what He has taught me about LOVE.


The part of the analogy that people seem to be getting hung up on is that we are equating Abilene with The Promised Land.  Why Abilene?  I keep hearing.  Abilene is dry. It's dirty. Whenever it rains it floods. There's crime and poverty unlike anything I've ever been exposed to in Canada. There is a spirit of religion and racism that is so heavy on the city it feels like you could cut it with a knife.  With characteristics like that it is hard to play Abilene off as a "desirable" city.  I can actually think of many cities in Texas that are more beautiful than Abilene.  But what we've come to discover is that has nothing to do with why we're here.


Obviously Abilene is a city in need of God.  It's not that there's not churches here, because there are LOTS of churches here.  But there are more lost people/souls here than there are churches and that's why we're here. God has blessed Mike with an amazing job and the finances to be a blessing to many.  He has also given us both a heart for Gods people in Abilene.  We want to see the lost saved. We need to see the spirits of poverty and religion broken in this place. Our main focus is to be true BELIEVERS, not just Christians, and to see Jesus lifted high in this city!


My heart is so full of peace being here, I have struggled to find the words to describe it to people.  I can't imagine how the Israelites felt after God had parted the Red Sea for them to cross on dry land and as they first stepped into the land promised to them!  I have perceived in my spirit some of the things that the Lord will be doing in Abilene soon.  It's as if the heavens are about to be ripped open and the glory of God is going to pour out over the city, consuming the bad and refining the good, igniting personal, corporate, and city wide revival.  Abilene will become a well known city for the revival that is about to rage across the land! I am so excited to be here and to be ready to be used mightily by God!


Created for this,
Jenn