While I have known about Switchboard almost since day one,
it has only been in the last few weeks I have joined the Switchboard team on an
official capacity. I wrestled with the
idea that God’s desire for me is to only exercise one or two of my passions at
a time, mainly because I seem to be drawn to opposing forces. Close community and travel for long periods
of time. Those deeply rooted in
religion, and those deeply hurt by religion.
There cannot be a way I could be connected to a local community and at the
same time satisfy my hearts desire for people, language, and culture and the
global church. There was something
missing in my understanding of who
God is. When it comes to our spiritual
life, our understanding of who God is might just be the most important thing we
could believe.
Do you
ever wonder why God places huge visions for His world deep within our hearts,
but only gives us one little piece at a time to build this God-sized
dream? Then there are the moments it
seems as though we walk into seasons where God doesn’t tell us or show us
anything at all. It is like giving us a
crystal clear picture of this indescribable treasure, yet he hands us the
treasure map and all it says is, “Let me be,”
with an arrow pointing to where there certainly is an “X” marking the spot.
In
Exodus 3 God appeared to Moses in the form of a burning bush, something so
outside of his understanding of what should
be that it drew Moses closer and closer. It was here God reveals his name
and his character, “I am who I am.” I Am, the most referenced name for God
in scripture. It is the name that includes
all names, it is the source and validation for His existence, and for
ours. Beautiful right?
When
God spoke to Moses in the desert and said, “I am who I am.” He was saying I Am. I am The Lord, the
Righteous Judge, Faithful Friend, Prince of Peace. I am the God who heals, the God who provides,
the God who sees, I am the Lord God Almighty.
I am the Creator, Savior, the Living One, the First and the Last, the
Alpha and the Omega, I am the Lamb of God who was slain for you. I Am.
Last
Wednesday we hosted an evening of prayer and worship to pray for Uganda and the
community God has placed us in. We
didn’t quite know what to expect as only half of our team has roots here in
Nashville, but when your heart is to know
and love God it is safe to expect
great things. A couple dozen friends,
young working professionals, college students, kids and their mothers, and
friends of friends showed up to encourage us in prayer and worship with us as
we wait to see just how God will move in Africa. Perhaps I shouldn’t speak for my fellow team
members, but I don’t believe any of us anticipated the number of participants
or the heartfelt contribution as we interceded for the people of Uganda and as
we prayed protection and provision over our trip.
Again I was asking myself,
“Why?” But I wasn’t asking God, “Who?”
I know I am not alone in saying this, but it is so easy for me to lose
sight of who He is. I find myself looking for guidance and
direction and I pull out the treasure map I referenced early only to read, “Let me be.” Instead of doing anything better, sometimes I
need to first let Him be. I need to let
God be God. How boring would this life
be if all of our plans were never foiled, or if they were only as good as we
imagined and no grander. God desires to
seize that empty space in our lives so he can blow our minds. And when we ask, “why?” he simply wants to
remind us who he is. He wants those
words, “I am that I am” to ring so loudly in our ears we think of peace,
protection, provision, and comfort and we remove all doubt and remember he is
with us. He never intended us to do it
without him.
Maybe that’s why my map is
empty. It only reads, “Let me be,”
because if there was a long list of things needed to be done I would try doing
them without him. My efforts may turn
out good, but would they ever blow my mind?
While I find myself muttering frustrations at times, I have come to be
so grateful as God holds me in a position of suspense and dependence. I feel I would miss out on opportunities to work
with the people I do now and witness all that God is up to, I’d continue to
believe my hearts desires are for separate seasons rather than in God’s
timing. I’d continue to have a very
small understanding of God and his love, and I’d continue forgetting to simply let him be.
We can’t thank those of you enough
who joined us in prayer last Wednesday, your love for Jesus and your time in
prayer has encouraged us more than you know.
We simply ask you to continue covering us in prayer. Pray for the people of Uganda and for our
leaders there. Pray for their families
and for them to grow deeper in their knowledge of Him. Pray the people of Parwech long for the love
Jesus offers, and pray their hearts would be ready to receive Him as truth,
hope, and love. Pray also for us, pray
that we would let God be God in all we do and hearts would be drawn to
him. Pray our understanding of Him would
grow daily, and that we would not limit him in anything we do.
Thank you again for your prayers
and your support of Switchboard Missions and may the whole world know of His
great love for us.
In grace and love…
The newest addition to the Switchboard Team,
Cyrus Eaton
