Atlantic Shmlantic

The Lord has taken my attention to a certain passage of scripture this week. In His amazing ways that He works: at different times, different ways, and different sources, brought me to Joshua 3. The Whole Chapter(this is significant) ...

^"15and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), ¹⁶the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho. ¹⁷Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the LORD stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan."

The Lord has called us to step out, and we praise Him for that. Unfortunately, we as people fail to understand our role in His call. Failing to read scripture as a whole can sometimes be used wrongly as a tool to attempt to justify our motives or desires, but also, in my case can place crushing wait and unnecessary fear on our shoulders. I wanted to do. My attention and my "striving" desire was to see the next step for me to do in this passage of scripture rather then to see the beauty of an ever present Jesus in this. I missed the whole point! I failed to even grasp:

"3....As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it."
^"11Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan"

1) The Ark: the presence of GOD was "passing over BEFORE you"
2) "Lord of all the earth"- He not only created but COMMANDS the earth
3) I'm certainly not God and last time I checked, our high priest is JESUS(Heb 8:1)
4) We follow Him...

The Lord has made it evident that this is and will always be His work. We follow because of the love of Christ that compels us, and the truth that He has gone before us.

We know that just like the Israelites, this definitely is not the only battle that we will face. Our goal is not to get to London, our goal is the Glory of the Lord. However that looks: here, on the journey, or there.

Okay our status update:
-We feel that God is calling us to leave for London on or very close to June 8, despite the fact that>
-We are still, on this day, waiting to hear back on our visas(which should be within a week)
-We are still praying that the Lord would stir in people's hearts to become part of this work in London ...even the unlikely(Ezra1)right?!

So we continue to step out and pray that God would ultimately guide our paths.

For those who have been faithful in prayer for us, we truly love you and truly thank you! Please remember to also be in prayer for Mark and Lizzie who God is already using on mission in London. That the Lord would open doors, open hearts, and form genuine relationships in the building of His church.

Love, the Simas'

Simas' Mission Video