So don't you love it when God calls you out? In our last blog, we shared about being grateful and trusting in God even in difficult situations and in moments of loss. Why does it often seem that God's grace is so evident in the larger situations like the passing of a beloved family member, but in the smaller situations, it is so much easier to become irritated and disheartened? Why is it so much easier to be robbed of our joy, faith, and hope by the small stuff? We learned early last week that the buyers that we thought were strong, were actually unable to get a loan. After looking into a variety of options, they had to back out. Needless to say I felt a little frustrated, and perhaps even a little duped. Everything was coming together so nicely, and then... boom... this happens. What was I saying about being thankful? How quickly I forget! How quickly do I let frustrations and anxieties take over! Is not our God trustworthy? Has He not put so many pieces together for us so far? We need to remember!
How many times did the Chosen People, the first to hear and to respond to God's invitation, forget all that the Lord has done for them, how He freed them from Egypt, parted the Red Sea, fed them manna, gave them water, and the list goes on and on. A moment later, they grumble as soon as things get a little tough, or don't go exactly has they has planned. I am no different. I need to remember!
Throughout the Scriptures, each time God initiates something new, especially a covenant, there is a particular formula that it follows. It always begins, "Remember you can trust Me. Look what I have already done for you."
"Abram put his faith in the LORD, who attributed it to him as an act of righteousness. He then said to him, 'I am the LORD who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as a possession,'"Genesis 15: 6-7.
"I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery," Exodus 20:2.
"Now then, speak thus to my servant David, Thus says the LORD of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the flock, to become ruler over my people Israel. I was with you wherever you went, and I cut down all your enemies before you. And I will make your name like that of the greatest on earth,'" 2 Samuel 7:8-9.
How often I forget all the good He has done for me.
One of my prayers for well over a year now, ever since we began to really look into FMC, has been that the Lord would reveal to me and free me from whatever holds me back from knowing His love and following His will. To be honest there have been days when I really wonder how stupid and crazy is this prayer. It is a guaranteed way to see dark areas of my life that I do not like. And yet God's love is still in these place. "Where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more," Romans 5:20. I have been praying for the grace to be detached, to be detached from our possessions, security, comforts, our home. And I never thought I would be so ready to sell our house. I never thought I would come to see our home as something that could hold us back from doing God's will.
So please join us and pray, pray that the perfect buyer comes quickly, that our home will be a blessing to whoever the next owner may be. Pray that we would be free from whatever holds us back.
On a much lighter note.... Guess who now has their passports and are free to travel outside of the country?
Also for those in Western New York, please come and join us for a night of praise and worship!
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