Preparing for battle

I sort of slipped in here the announcement that I would be stepping down as Lakeside Youth Leader at the end of the summer. The decision took a long time for me to make because I love working with the youth and I fought for the longest time against the obvious for that reason. But I knew as early as the beginning of last year that this would be my last year as youth leader. I can cite dozens of reasons - the most obvious being that I'm just burnt out from doing it for so many years. But the number one reason is that God wanted me to move on.

I can't explain that rationale. I don't claim to have a hot line to the Big Cheese. But sometimes, when I'm still, I can discern His will for me fairly easily. I waited until just such a moment and I prayed, "Lord, should I stop being a youth leader?" And instead of Him showing me the final days of being a youth leader and asking me the usual questions of why I wanted to quit or what will become of the youth program after I'm gone, He showed me the thousands of myriad possibilities of things I could do after I was done with being a youth leader. I suddenly felt elated at the idea of moving on and doing something new and exciting for God. The youth group, I realized, was always in God's hands and He would do wondrous things with it after I left. My time had come.

After I let the powers that be know of my decision, the number one question I was asked was - what now? I think everyone had something in mind for me, or assumed that I was leaving because I had something in mind. But, honestly, I didn't have a clue of what I am going to do next. I figured that God got me into Youth Leadership and He would get me into my next project, whatever that might be.

Of course, being human, I imagined some things I might try. But I could tell that these were my ideas, not God's, and that, as such, they were slightly half-baked. I kind of picture King David inquiring of the Lord when He wanted David to build a temple in Jerusalem and being told, That is not for you to do. I'm sure David was a little bit stunned. Not for me?! Well, who else can do such a thing?! Anyway, I knew these ideas were just idle mental ramblings. God would let me know in His time.

But, I admit, at some point, I finally had to ask. Okay, God, What now? I was surprised to get an instant answer. So surprised, in fact, that even though I knew it was from God right away, I hesitated and pondered it for quite some time. What God said, in not so many words, "You're good with food."

I admit that I've always had a soft spot for food (mostly around my mid-section ;) and I love to do food raising events for the San Francisco Food Bank, but I had never once considered taking it any farther than that. But God made it very clear to me that this was what He wanted me to do and He also made it clear to me that the sooner, the better. Considering the rising costs of food, the number of disasters that we currently seem to be enduring, and the shrinking resources available to help those less fortunate people amongst us, I don't need to be hit over the head with the obviousness of that statement.

So over the next several months, as I finish up my tenure as Lakeside Youth Leader, I will be strapping on armor around here at Icon, as I prepare for a battle of an entirely different sort. I don't know to what sort of front line God will be sending me, but I hope to be prepared wherever I go.