Soul Searching & Seoul

It has been the most poignant week of my life. Last Monday when I was driving down to KK from Namaus I was pretty certain I would spend the rest of the year at College. Now I am driving back to Namaus to pack my bags and tomorrow I will be back for KK for good, at least until my new appointment (with the Lord). It has been also the most intense soul searching week of my life which the Lord uses all these internal and external pressures to teach me one lesson, a lesson I thought I had learned many years ago, that is God is my employer and my boss and ultimately I am only accountable to Him and Him alone. So I don't see this period as a period of inactivity or unemployment but in the employment of the Lord as one who takes orders from him and go where the Spirit leads. The Elijah passage came to mind several times in Singapore as I prepared my Sunday sermon preached yesterday. Elijah is usually hidden from human interaction but when he appears no one fails to notice him because he is a prophet of fire or prophet by fire.
When the drought came he was sent to Sidon and lived off the hospitality of a widow. The Lord fed him with meat brought by ravens and he drank from the brooks. There are many ways the Lord could provide for us apart from the usual monthly pay cheque or income from business or from our own exertions. My soul searching was intense in the midst of meeting with friends. All in all, I met up with at least 20 personal friends not counting their spouses and children. I did not once have time for shopping or even window shopping. Yesterday I spent the whole hour chatting with church members and one after another came to my table and chatted and wished me well. One said I was needed in the field and over lunch I had another hour long conversation with two brothers before heading back to the Hotel. With my Seoul trip coming up the last thing I wanted to do was to make another ardous trip to Ranau. Perhaps in Seoul there will be more soul searching whether my ministry will be rural based like Jesus or in urban centres like Paul. Whether it will be teaching, lecturing and presenting papers or preaching from one village to another.