“In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out. But if the cloud did not lift, they would not go forward.”
Exodus 40:36, 37a
At intervals during the 1990s and early 2000s, I used to work for the international division of CBN (the Christian Broadcasting Network). While there, I learned a valuable lesson from CBN’s founder and CEO, Pat Robertson, who had the custom of going away toward year’s end to seek the Lord’s direction for the New Year. All employees were required to attend a meeting on January 1st to hear Pat tell us what guidance the Lord had given him for the coming year.
Ultimately, I left CBN to more fully do what I felt the Lord was calling me to do with my life and ministry, specifically the ministry of Messenger Films. I’ve made four films since then—Undaunted, The Bill Collector, Sabina K., and Let Me Have My Son. Yes… Let Me Have My Son is finished! Could it be a different film? A better film? Further edited? I will borrow a quote from Rembrandt, who said, “The painting is finished when the artist says it is finished.”
So, what comes next?
Short answer: I’m not entirely sure. I have four completed screenplays sitting in my desk drawer (make that five). Additionally, I have numerous other “ideas” for films, and I get pitched seemingly every week by screenwriters to produce one of their feature scripts. There is no shortage of possibilities. But guess what? There’s a big, fat cloud hovering around me and it hasn’t moved for a couple of weeks now. I’m not making any announcements as to “what’s next.” I’m waiting for the cloud to move.
Over the years, I’ve been at high elevations in many parts of the world where the clouds have suddenly rolled in, obscuring visibility but surrounding one with a sense of comfort and security. I have loved those times. It has been as if I’m wrapped in a heavenly blanket, cozy and safe. I’ll venture to say the Israelites of old felt a deep assurance knowing that God had established a way to communicate with them; that if the cloud did not move, neither did they, and when the cloud did move, they headed out as well.
Well, I’m ready to go. Heck, I’m ready to go anywhere! But that enthusiasm is, thankfully, tempered by the conviction that unless the Lord builds the house (makes the film), they labor in vain who build (produce) it. I would rather have direction from God—and nothing more—than provision from man and no guidance from God.
I say this by way of asking you to do something you may not have done for us before. Pray for us, will you? Pray for me. I have been suffering from pneumonia and facing dejection that can seep in after a project is completed. I need illumination and clarity. I need to discern God’s will for the ministry. I need boldness. Pray also for our Board of Directors, a group of men and women who have come alongside me to help steer our ship. Pray for wisdom for us all.
You may not know that the movie, Let Me Have My Son, is inspired by the book of the same title. It is currently available in hardcover or paperback, revised and updated from the version published in 2007. For price and shipping information, send me an email.
I’m looking out my bedroom window at a frozen landscape. It’s hard to imagine where we go from here. But God will speak to me. I have no doubt of that.
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning (Psalm 130:5–6).
Happy New Year to each of you!
