Going Out not Knowing

For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God. Hebrews 3:4
By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. Hebrews 11:8
By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
Hebrews 11:27

Have you ever gone out not knowing where you were going? Have you ever taken a vacation without checking the road map and marking off distinct landmarks, cities and small towns? Often when we travel, we like to have checkpoints along the path to make sure we are still going the right way. When we find ourselves off course, we immediately panic and wonder where we went off track. However, when we reach our destination, we can look back in reflection and enjoy the place that you have been brought to.

Reflection over the past allows us to see Him who is invisible working in our lives. When we are able to reflect, we can learn to appreciate our present and anticipate our future as God continues to lead by His unseen hand. Today, I want to share with you what God has done in my life up to this very day. In May of 2002, I graduated from Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. I had a job lined up and was ready to begin on June 3. The only problem was that I didn’t have a place to live and I was supposed to begin work about two weeks after graduation. I didn’t know where I would be living, but was thankful that I had a job. On Graduation Day, I ran into one of my close friends and her family. They began taking pictures and her aunt asked me about my plans after graduating. I told her about having a job in Nashville. She immediately asked if I had a place to stay. I told her I was still looking. During that very moment, she told me that her and her husband had an apartment/efficiency above her garage that I could live in for $120 a month. I got her number and my sister and me checked the place out the next week. The home was on a farm with an open field to do cross-country running, a pond behind the house through the woods, and the quietness that I needed for the Lord to speak to my lost heart. The Lord used this time to get my attention through the Gospel that was preached at a church that I was led to 60 miles from my new home.

I lived there for seven months and then moved into an apartment in Brentwood, TN. This was a taste of freedom and my only apartment outside the dorm room I lived in for 4 years. It was a one-bedroom with about 760 square feet. In this apartment, I was saved by God’s grace on April 7, 2003. Everything began changing after that night, but I continued working for a company in Cool Springs. On March 24, 2003, I experienced the loss of my first job when corporate came in and told us that things were changing. However on March 25, I began a new job working with a Healthcare consulting firm near downtown Nashville. I traveled almost every week living out of hotel rooms in various cities. It was quite an adventure! My best friend from high school moved in with me during the summer of 2004, and we shared a one-bed room apartment because I was always gone. In August, God placed a burden on my heart to preach the Gospel. He asked me to leave my job in October and follow Him not knowing where I was going and without any funds. With the jobs I had, I was able to pay off student loans in 1.5 years after graduating. Praise be to God! About 3-4 months later, money was running low and I knew I was following Jesus. One week, I didn’t have enough money to pay for rent and I could not ask anyone. God wanted me to prove Him. I prayed and He answered. During that week, I received half of a $50 credit to our account and a refund check from an insurance company for $287. God provided my needs. Often, I didn’t know where the next dollar was going to come from, but with God’s grace I knew that where He led, He would provide.

In May of 2004, I had another dilemma. I didn’t know how I could continue to volunteer my time at the mission, prison and in itinerant preaching and still be able to live somewhere. I prayed and God heard my prayers by sending a man from my church that I never remember meeting before. He told me that God had placed me on his heart, and he felt a need to help me in some way. He offered me a place to stay if I needed it. That was exactly what I was praying for. I didn’t know that it would take me 50 miles away from where I was working, but this was the only door that had been opened. He and his wife were going to look for a place closer to our church, but he said it would take 3-4 months to get everything worked out. They ended up selling their house the day before I moved in and buying a new one closer to church the next week. With contract work, we were both homeless for a month in the summer. While homeless and living from house to house with many families, I learned to love people more for their graciousness and hospitality. In July of that summer, the wind blew me to Jamaica on a mission trip where I met one of my best friends and soon to be wife in 9 days…

After moving into this house about three years ago, I was approached by a church to begin preaching and teaching there. The church that called me was only 5-6 miles from the home that God had placed me in with this new family. I have been serving this church for 2 years now and God sent my wife, who I met in Jamaica in the summer of 2004, to this church to serve the little children. She has been setting on the third row back from the front for over a year now. We were engaged after never dating, kissing, or holding hands. Jesus revealed to both of us that we were to spend the rest of our lives together serving Him and loving each other as He loved His church. Today, I will be going to the bank to close on a tent (home) that will be our dwelling place until the Lord asks us to move again. This world is not our home, and we are just passing through. We will continue to go out not knowing where we are going but knowing in whom we believe.

Going out with Jesus,
Brian Johnson