One way we recognize God's presence is with us is when we find ourselves walking in the shoes of those who've gone before us; and in the heroes of faith we read about in the scriptures.
When the thought came to me to leave the church my mother brought me up in and go to a place that would be showed to me, I assumed I had been studying too much. "Okay Anna, pull yourself together," I said to myself. "That command was to Abraham to leave his father's house, a place of idolatry. Your mother's church is not a place of idolatry; it's a place where God's Word is taught and He is worshiped. You're active in several areas of ministry, surely God isn't telling you to pack up and leave."
On Sunday afternoon following service, one of the church mothers approached me. She said, "Baby, God has a great work for you to do but you've got to leave this place and go where you can be trained."
Where would I go? Is God really telling me to leave? How will I know when I'm at the place where He wants me to be?
After several weeks of pondering and prayer I packed up and began my journey of faith. Since Abraham went south, I traveled south listening, looking and trusting God to lead me to the place He wanted me to go. In the process of my travels I've learned to discern God's direction, experience His heart for people, to see and love others as He does, and be a part of His plan in meeting needs and leading others to faith in Him. I have also felt God's heart for me through personal crisis-----breast cancer, family conflicts, long term unemployment, failures, sin, and the need for His forgiveness.
It is in my current tour that I came to realize the place God was leading me to. It is the same place He led Abraham to; a place of relationship with Him. Jesus has made it possible (through His death, for our sins, and His resurrection) for each of us to experience a personal relationship with God. What must one do to experience this connection with the Almighty? A-admit your need for a Savior; B-believe that Jesus is the Savior, and C-commit yourself to God asking Him to be the leader of your life.
