I am no longer the things of my past...I am the daughter of the Great I AM.

Exodus 3:14
And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'"
2 Corithians 6:18
I will be a Father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

It all Depends on Who Gave it to You

Over the last 6 years, God has really been working in the lives of my family. One of the greatest things during this time is that both of my children made the decision to follow Jesus. Praise!

Not only was God working in the hearts of my children, He was working in the hearts of myself and my husband. There have been tests that we passed immediately, and there have been others that we have taken more than once.

One of our biggest failures, rest almost entirely on my shoulders. When we moved to Texarkana with Jason's job, we had to sell a house that we built in Magnolia. I knew that God would not want us to go from home owning to renting even for a short amount of time. Please note I said I knew, I did not say we had prayed about what we should do. So we built a house. And we struggled. Jason was not happy in his job. We truly believe that God used that job to move us here, but because of our poor financial decisions (i.e. building the house), he was stuck in it longer than he should have been.

Before the house was even complete, we knew we had made a mistake. However, instead of confessing it, I just kept proclaiming that God was giving us this house. Even after we moved in, we knew we were not supposed to be there. Yet I was not ready to trust God with that. So, I kept proclaiming my version of the truth, and Jason kept struggling to figure out what to do next.

It was a beautiful house, but we were miserable. Jason finally decided to put the house on the market. I did not argue with him, but began praying that no buyer would come. And no buyer came. I prayed daily over this house that God would provide the means to pay for this house. One day I was praying, and I said, "God, you gave us this house..." before I could finish He said, "NO, I did not." I am sure He had been telling me all along, I just wasn't listening. I immediately dropped to my knees and I gave the house to God. That was on a Friday. On Monday, we had a buyer for the house.

We moved out of the house the we had built, and began renting. You see, we never owned that house... it owned us. We rented for about 9 months, and God worked wonders in our lives. Since that time, Jason is no longer in a job he hates. Instead, God gave us a business of our own. We are not renting, God gave us a house that we love. We finally passed the test, it is not about the stuff you have... It is about who gave it to you.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

3 comments:

  1. Whoa! Thanks so much for sharing, it has opened my eyes to some things in my own life, not the house situation but some other things that I need to unclench my hands from.

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  2. We all are guilty of this one...wanting something so bad that because we pray we convince ourselves that "God" wants it for us. I did this very same thing hanging on to my restaurant way too long until it cost us to loose a lot of material things...but it opened my eyes to better things. The things that God wanted me to be doing. I know that He is always faithful...I am the one that wants to jump and do things my way without asking him and then I always struggle. I am better, lots better but I am human and still jump and make decisions that I don't wait in his answer.
    Your blog is good. I enjoy reading it and your comments on facebook. May God continue blessing you and your precious family as you seek His will in your life in all things.
    In Christ,
    Kay Sanidfer

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  3. Oh, how often have I "heard" the answer I was wanting to hear. I seek God's guidance daily in the trivial things, such as "where did I leave my glasses?" But when it comes to the important things I sort of ask Him, truly afraid of His answer. It's always about "me, me, me" instead of realizing that all I have is because of HIM. He has guided me through so many trials in my life, how could I ever doubt Him? He is the answer to all our problems, we, especially me; just need to learn to listen (and hear) Him.

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