Are you wondering how I am doing since the big announcement? (If you didn’t hear the news, I will not be working at New Life Community Church after December 31. You can read more about that here).

I too wondered how I would fare in the sea of responses. I kept waiting for a wave to broadside me. Would someone be angry with me? Would others be relieved that I was stepping down?

But it’s gone smoothly. Many people expressed their appreciation for what I have done for them personally and for our church. Some kindly ask how Fred and I will make ends meet. Most are inspired by my willingness to follow God’s call to be less busy.

But I haven’t slowed down yet. In fact, the pace has picked up. I long for the solitude and leisure that is eight weeks away and get anxious thinking about all that needs to be done before then. My prayer times are rushed and unfocused. I pray in the cracks. Deadlines have me trapped and feeling like the Israelites caught between Pharaoh’s army and the Red Sea. I need the outrageous faith Moses had. He believed: God loves us. God is here. God will act. And God did.

But Moses wasn’t always so confident. Like me, he got overwhelmed by all he was expected to do. When he complained to the Lord, God comforted him.

 Moses said to the Lord, “See, you have said to me, ‘Bring up this people’; but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, a nd you have also found favour in my sight.’  Now if I have found favour in your sight, show me your ways, so that I may know you and find favour in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.”

 He said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
– Exodus 33:12-14

I complained too and God parted the sea that threatened to separate us: just in time, a friend brought me these verses from Exodus to comfort me. They gave me the confidence to continue on toward the Red Sea.

Eight weeks to the Promised Land.

Just Sit There Right Now
– Hafiz

Just
Sit there right now.
Don’t do a thing. Just rest.

For your
Separation from God
Is the hardest work in this world.

Let me bring you trays of food and something
That you like to
Drink.

You can use my soft words
As a cushion
For your
Head.

Credits:
Crossing the Red Sea by St. Takla Haymanout Coptic Orthodox Community 
“Just Sit There Right Now” by Hafiz (1325–1389) translated by Daniel Ladinsky in Love Poems from God, 2002. Used with permission.
Banner (not visible on home page) “Sitting in Silence” by Alice Popkorn. Used with permission.

© Esther Hizsa, An Everyday Pilgrim, 2014.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without permission from Esther Hizsa is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used provided there is a link to the original content and credit is given as follows: © Esther Hizsa, An Everyday Pilgrim 2013, 2014  http://www.estherhizsa.wordpress.com.