Reassurances

Wow. God is so good. If you have your eyes open, you can see Him everywhere. Thank you, God, for always being present.

This week I took a pretty hard hit. (I want to be candid on this blog, but I do have to consider others’ privacy so I’m going to need to be a bit vague...bear with me.) I was faced with trusting God, or listening to the advice of man. I was reminded of Job, whose friends fed him incorrect information about God. They really had the best intentions; they were respectable, godly men. But ultimately, Job needed to seek the Lord over the word of any man. I am so grateful that a couple months ago I was listening to Job, and God really pressed on my heart that I needed to pay attention.

In the past, I have fought advice from wise people in my life because I wanted to prove to myself and others that I could do things on my own—that I am smart, strong, and mature. Over the years, I have learned enough lessons the hard way to realize that I should really consider that sage advice. Growing in wisdom and godliness is such a journey, though. I have learned to listen to the wise, but now God is challenging me to listen to Him even if it doesn’t seem wise. I am bursting with praise because God has shown me that even though there is pain in this, He is also right there beside me.

(Ready for a mom-style metaphor? Don’t go off on all of the sidetracks, because this metaphor will, like all metaphors, break apart. Taken simply as they’re told, metaphors really help me grasp concepts, so here we go.)

It’s like a long natural labor: I am doing something so hard but there is also such deep meaning to it and an incredible reward waiting for me. God is like my husband: staying by my side, encouraging me, comforting me, reminding me of the goal. But the doctor is the wise man telling me I should stop this pain, and even risk, and have a c-section. He has my best interest in mind and there is still reward in that, but it’s not what my husband and I know is the plan for us.

(Ok, I know there are so so many places where that metaphor breaks apart, but it makes sense to me so there it is.)

Today was full of reassurance.

(1) Our youth pastor is from South Africa and just came back from visiting after being in the States for five years. He shared testimonies of how his brother and friend have come to Christ in his absence. We have really questioned if we are doing the right thing since we will be leaving friends and family who aren’t Christian. These testimonies were such an encouragement that God works through us, but He is the one who does the saving; and we need to entrust our loved ones to Him.

(2) Erik was preaching out of Matthew 1 today. He noted that the word “wilderness” is used four times in the first 13 verses. In a hint for next week’s sermon, Erik stated,  “God invites us to secret places where He will meet us.” I’ve been thinking about being isolated out on the farm and living in a wild, rural area. I now have a sense of anticipation and excitement to see God meet me there.

(3) I was going through random old emails when I came across a video I had sent my sister in 2013 (Steven Furtick, “You’re Never Really Ready”). In it, Furtick teaches that the saints of old were not ready for what God had planned. God doesn’t ask us to be ready; he asks us to follow Him. He guides us step by step. We can’t see the whole journey, but we can make it one step at a time. Furtick says, “you can stand flat-footed in the face of fear if you can just hear His voice.” We don’t need to see everything. He is with us and He is for us. When I face doubt and fear and many trials, God gives my hand a little squeeze to say, “I’m here; we’ve got this; you’re going to be ok and so much more.”

These little things that may seem like nothing to anyone else mean so much to me. Thank you, Abba.