Monday, October 2, 2006

Stretching faith

OK, so it's been a while now and it's time for another blog. It is truly amazing the work God has done before my eyes in my own life and in the lives of others. We just went through ReFRESH (our annual 'revival' conference) at church and I am definitely refreshed! Through difficulties and busy-ness I made the time to go to the meetings and attend the lunches daily and the Lord truly blessed me for it! I am so grateful to be a part of a wonderful church full of loving people who are ready to serve our Lord and eachother.

Over the last month the Lord has really been stretching my faith. The area of finances has definitely been something he has been dealing with me with faith. It's not enough to give my little 10% each paycheck... it's not enough to give offerings above and beyond my tithe when I feel called to do so. It's not even enough to say that I know the Lord will provide. I must step out on faith and truly trust the Lord to provide for my every need. As the Lord revealed to me... worrying about my finances is a sure sign that I am not trusting him. Yeowch! That's a tough one!

I have had to focus and refocus on this one... I sometimes wonder how I am going to do things... but then I look at all he has given me. The resources I have are so far beyond what many others have. I am so blessed! I have discovered that he can do so much more with my not only my money but also my time... than I could ever dream of. So he says... "You say you believe I will provide for your needs... but are you trusting me, L??? Are you trusting me? Trust me! Trust me!" I am trusting in Him... I'm stepping out on His Word, as Peter did when he walked the water. And I know that even if I stumble, just as Peter did, my Lord and Savior will catch me. He will not let me sink!

I got a pop quiz on faith this week too. A recent development in my life is that I am buying a house. I had planned to wait until after the first of the year to begin looking again. For the last several months I have been working diligently to pay down debt to prepare for such an investment. Well, as you know, the Lord's timing is different from our own and he sure let me know that this week. He plunked an opportunity right on my lap in the form of a darling little 2 bed room home on the avenues. My mom decided to go out looking at a few of the homes a friend of ours told her about on thier street and 1 street up. While she was out she happened to run into this house - she called the number on the FSBY sign and talked to the owner and found out all about the house. She called me in tears... and shew asn't even sure why. When I looked at the home I fell in love. I spent the next rwo days wondering if it was the right thing... and praying. I took my bible out one evening and decided to read Deuteronomy rather than doing my normal devotions... when I opened up to chapter one I had no idea what I would read and what it would mean for me but I prayed to the Lord to show me His will and speak to me through His Word. He did alright. For those of you who know me and my situation you might understand this better... but here's the passages that really spoke to me.

Galations 1
6 The LORD our God said to us at Horeb, "You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the mountains, in the western foothills, in the Negev and along the coast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the Euphrates. 8 See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land that the LORD swore he would give to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—and to their descendants after them." 9 At that time I said to you, "You are too heavy a burden for me to carry alone. 10 The LORD your God has increased your numbers so that today you are as many as the stars in the sky. 11 May the LORD, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand times and bless you as he has promised!
30 The LORD your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, 31 and in the desert. There you saw how the LORD your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place." 32 In spite of this, you did not trust in the LORD your God, 33 who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go.

Woah! OK, so the Lord has promised me this home – that is basically what I got from that scripture. And he will go before me and fight… I just have to have… there's that word again… yep, FAITH! But of course giants came along as they did with Isreal that scared me… I felt like there was no way I could 'enter the land of Canaan' because of them. But I had to face the giants… oh wait, where have I heard that??? Oh "Facing the Giants"! Wow… he's really prepared me for this! I tell you, the Lord will never ask you to do anything he hasn't equipped you to do! Well, after beginning to stumble with doubt sure enough He was there to catch me… he gently reminded me that He can handle it if I will have faith and trust Him to instead of myself. Ladies and Gentleman… don't doubt in the dark what you have been shown in the light!

So, the short of it is that I am making an offer and putting down the earnest money this week… and I'm trusting God for the rest. He gave me a clear answer to my prayers and I can't let my flesh or Satan deceive me into thinking otherwise. Very soon KKand I will have our very own home! I am incredibly excited and we have already begun the planning. Pray for the decision to be made from here. Pray that I will be strong and be a good steward of this blessing… and pray for my family as we go through this transition. This is going to be very tough on Mimi and Papa! :-)

God bless!

LF

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