Unexpected Expectations

I spoke in church last Sunday about the life and times of Daniel from the ancient manuscripts.  In chapter 9, versus 25-26, Daniel shares a dream of future events.  In this dream, a particular decree would be announced by a foreign king to rebuild Jerusalem, and then an exact calculation of years was given before the ‘Anointed One’ would appear.  Only one decree ever went out meeting all the particulars of Daniel’s dream, and after the exact number of years passed (to the day!), Jesus came riding into Jerusalem on a colt, on the day we celebrate as Palm Sunday.  Yet most people missed it!  Why?

Because they didn’t expect the King of Kings and Lord of Lords to come into Jerusalem like that.  They expected a general or earthly king leading armies to free them from their oppressors.  They didn’t expect a child of questionable parentage and born in a lowly stable, preaching the kingdom of God is at hand, from the inside out rather than the outside in.

We’ve been in England over 5 years now.  I shared about the miraculous journey to bring us to this country in Coming to England.  At the end, I talk about the importance of the Indefinite Leave to Remain visa.  We didn’t have a prophetic word as such, just a feeling, that we should strive to get the Indefinite Leave to Remain visa as quickly as possible, then see what God does.

In July 2011, we became eligible for this visa, so I actually contacted my company’s human resources department in January to start working on the requirements.  Over the course of the next 9 months, the rules changed 4 times, and the fees increased twice.  At one point, I even questioned if it was worth the trouble, but we decided to press on.  The package was finally submitted in late September and on Friday, 7 October, we were notified it had been approved.  I was no longer tied to my company, what would God do?

4 days later, on Tuesday, 11 Oct, I received a call from my supervisor and human resources that I had been made redundant (laid off after 15 years of service) in a wave of cuts sweeping across the company.  I didn’t expect that!  I almost couldn’t help laughing at the news.  I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I knew God was in it.

I had expected that I’d work for the company, then sometime after getting the visa, a door would open to work for full-time for the church.  But that door is closed.  As it turned out, I had been doing some consulting work for another organization through my company.  Since my whole job function was cut, they no longer had anyone to fulfill the contract.  My company gave me permission to pursue the contract as an independent consultant.  So I started my own consulting company, and have my first contract.

Without the visa, it would have been difficult to setup the company, and without being a member of a multi-national corporation, getting the visa would be difficult.  The path had been laid and the door opened!

Sounds pretty clear, but there were other options.  I was being counseled to find another job within my company or another corporate job.  None of those options felt right, but they were ‘safe’ in one sense of the word.  Though not truly safe, more accurately, it would be familiar, doing what I’ve done for years, until a church opening came my way.  Another option was to go back to America.  It just so happens my old business unit is hiring, while my current business unit was firing.  It was the chance to go home, back to family and longtime friends.  But God said Leatherhead is where we should be, and we haven’t heard anything different, nor do we feel our work here is done.  Either of these would have been easier roads, but God moves us forward, not backward, and by the difficult road, not the wide and well traveled road.

This is a brave new world for me and my family.  We’ve taken some steps of faith in the past, but this is the biggest so far, yet there is a sense of security knowing someone bigger is watching my back.  So really, it is just the next step in the journey.  It sure wasn’t what I expected, but if I held too closely to my expectations, I could have missed it.