“God, You came through…”

This has been the theme of our preparations so far, and I pray it will continue to be on my lips as we venture into new territory this year.  On Sunday, we added another “stone” to our pile.

God has graciously provided someone to stay at our house while we’re gone!  This was one of the last details that we hadn’t worked out, and it was really hanging over our heads.  Brent’s parents offered to take Ella (our cat), but we hated to be an imposition on them and also hated for Ella to have to go to an unfamiliar house.  I was also concerned about leaving the house alone for that long, but at the same time we were very cautious about who we’d be comfortable leaving it with.  A few weeks ago a friend from Sunday school mentioned that she knew of a woman looking for temporary housing in Richmond.  This woman has just sold her house and wants to move here and find a job but wasn’t ready to commit to a purchase of her own until she had time to check out the area.  We met her for coffee on Sunday, and it’s undeniable that God ordained this meeting.  She’d been praying for a couple of months that God would provide her housing in Richmond, although she didn’t know how that would possibly work out.  It’s not every day that someone has an empty house ready to move into for just a couple months.  On the other side, we were praying that God would find us the perfect person to stay in our house.  Our needs match perfectly, and we feel so at peace with her.  What a blessing – and not a moment too soon (Brent leaves tomorrow, and I wouldn’t have picked someone without him)!

I’ve spent the past couple weeks documenting my spiritual heritage as part of my Bible study time (I’m doing the Believing God study by Beth Moore).  I’ve thought back through every stage of my life, divided into fifths, and traced the areas where God was working, often without me even knowing it.  I admit that I never believed that I had much of a testimony, but God has shown me otherwise.  His hand has been upon me from the day I was born, and He’s come through mightily in ways that I literally am just now seeing.  This exercise also convicted me very clearly of something that I believe He’s probably wanted to show me for a long time. 

In spite of the many, many, many ways that He’s revealed His hand at work in my life and specifically in preparation for our trip (including this most recent example about the house), I still find myself somewhere in the back of my mind attributing it to coincidence.  I couldn’t understand why this thought kept creeping into my head, because it’s so evident that IT’S NOT COINCIDENCE!  I just picture Him asking me, “daughter, what do I have to do to show you that I’ve called you here and am preparing the way, and that I’ll be your pillar to guide you every step of the way?”.  I’ve realized that I don’t believe God when He tells me that He has a plan for my life and wants to use me to disciple others and expand His kingdom.  When I look at my past, I feel completely inadequate.  I don’t have enough knowledge, I lack faith, and my sins are vile and too numerous to count.  I don’t believe that He’d call me on a mission trip to spread His word, because I don’t truly believe the things He says about me in His word (that I’m a daughter of the King, that I’m cleansed white as snow, that I have His Spirit in me guiding my every step, etc).  Since I don’t truly believe He’d call me and use me, I end up thinking that these things that seem to affirm His call must be coincidence and I must be making it all up somehow.  It sounds silly when I write it, but this is at the core of my beliefs a lot of the time.  Thankfully, He’s changing that.    

God turned my eyes to Isaiah 43:10 this week:

¹⁰ “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD,
   “and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
   and understand that I am he.

Yes, there are people in India who need a witness to tell them the truth of God’s saving grace.  I’m thankful, honored, and humbled that He’s allowing me to be part of a mission to do that.  I pray that I’ll be faithful.  But the second part of that verse is what caught my attention.  I am the one who needs to be reminded of His truths.  He chose me to be a servant so that I would know and believe Him!  If I’m interpreting this correctly from my study, the original Hebrew word for “believe” (‘aman) in this context is a present active participle verb.  That means it’s not referring to the one time salvation belief (which is a different form of believe – pisteuo - as found in Ephesians 1:13).  It’s the daily choice to continue believing that He is who He says He is.  That’s what God is working on with me.   Yes, God has called me to India to spread His word and quicken His return.  But equally as important, He’s called me to this mission so that my own faith might be strengthened and so that I’ll believe Him.  These next 4 months are going to stretch me beyond where He’s taken me in the past.  I have to submit to Him completely everything I hold dear – my job, my health, my husband, my comfort, my will…for His glory, His fame, and His plans.  He asks us to take up our cross daily to follow Him (Luke 9:23), but His yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matthew 11:30).  And He’s faithful and promises that the blessings He provides are far superior to anything we could imagine. 

When I return next year, I want to be able to say over and over and over, “God, You came through”. 

Father, forgive my unbelief and increase my faith.  Don’t let me miss all the times that You come through over the coming months, because they help me trust You more and more.