Faith

It’s been a busy, exciting, and emotional past couple of weeks as we’ve waited for and watched God work in and around our lives.  He has been SO good to us… and I have absolutely no reason to spiritually justify the string of recent meltdowns… excetp that I’ve had a temporary lapse in memory.

As we approach the end of this present season, unanswered questions and unresolved situations remain.  And I’ll admit, it’s drivien me a little crazy lately.  Somewhere in my trying to figure out just how God is going to work everything out, I forgot something.  I forgot that the Lord PROMISED us that HE would take care of us.  I forgot that He sent us the Milk, the Turkey, and the Flowers along with the promise that “God will supply all of your needs, on your knees.”  I forgot the phrase that has marked this entire journey: “Urged on by faith, he went… although he did not know or trouble his mind about where he was going.”  I just plain forgot.

And because I forgot, my mind has been troubled.  I defaulted back to panic, tears, worry, and fear.  I could just kick myself right now! (But I’m uninsured… so I’ll wait another month before I do that!) ha ha! 🙂

As much as the Lord has shown Himself and His love to us over the past 10 months, I forgot that He would continue to lead us and feed us in the days to come.  I took my eyes off of Jesus, looked around in dismay, and I forgot to put them back onto Him for keeps.  I would glance up to Him, but I’d be quickly distracted by a sudden “need”.  I’ve spent the last several days focused on the needs rather than on the Supplier of all.

Honestly, I have nothing to complain about.  God has given us a call and a job.  He provided James a place to live until our house sells and the family can join him.  We’ll be living in a great town with precious people and serving in a wonderful church with an awesome staff.  I’m just getting impatient, and a little meloncholy because I don’t want our family to be seperated. 

“I, I, I, I, I!”  Yuck!  I’m sick of the whining and the “I’s”!  So yesterday, I asked the Lord to give me a Word from Him and some peace concerning our situation.  Just about as soon as I prayed that, a Twitter came through on my phone.  It was from Max Lucado, and this is what it said: 

“God’s ways are always right. They may not make sense to us. But they are right.”
Before my daddy died, he wanted us to know this same truth.  He told my mom to tell us: “Whatever happens is right, because God doesn’t make mistakes.”  It’s been one of the most comforting truths to remember.  So when I read that “word” from the Lord, what could I say, but “Yes, Lord. Of course Your ways are right and best! I’m so sorry for the grumbling and complaining and not trusting You!”  

Then I remembered.  I remembered that His ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9).  I remembered that His plans for us are for our good and His glory – every time (Romans 8:28 and Jeremiah 29:11).  I remembered that He will never leave nor forsake us, assuredly not (Hebrews 13:5)!  I remembered the four keys He gave me to help escape the lock ups of panic and fear… and I acted on what I remembered.

I don’t know how He is going to do it.  I don’t know when He is going to do it.  But I do know that God is going to provide for our needs, sell this house, and put our family back together again.  And He will do it in a way that is good, and that will bring Him great glory through our lives.

Melanie Dorsey (Bella Mella) sent me today’s devotion from Rick Warren.  It couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.  I wonder if anyone besides me is in the midst of a temporary lapse in memory… and needs to be reminded to keep trusting the Lord, urged on by faith….. If so, may He use this to bless you as He has blessed and strengthened me just this morning.

Surrender: Let Go and Let God Work
by Rick Warren

“Surrender yourself to the Lord, and wait patiently for him.”   Psalm 37:7 (GWT)

Surrendering your life means:

• Following God’s lead without knowing where he’s sending you;
• Waiting for God’s timing without knowing when it will come;
• Expecting a miracle without knowing how God will provide;
• Trusting God’s purpose without understanding the circumstances.

You know you’re surrendered to God when you rely on God to work things out instead of trying to manipulate others, force your agenda, and control the situation. You let go and let God work. You don’t have to always be in charge. Instead of trying harder, you trust more….

The supreme example of self-surrender is Jesus. The night before his crucifixion Jesus surrendered himself to God’s plan. He prayed, “Father, everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will, not mine” (Mark 14:36 NLT).

Jesus surrendered himself to God’s will. He prayed, “God, if it is in your best interest to remove this suffering, please do so. But if it fulfills your purpose, that’s what I want, too.”

Genuine surrender says, “Father, if this problem, pain, sickness, or circumstance is needed to fulfill your purpose and glory in my life or in another’s life, please don’t take it away!”

This level of maturity doesn’t come easy. In Jesus’ case, he agonized so much over God’s plan that he sweated drops of blood. Surrender is hard work. In our case, it requires intense warfare against our self-centered nature.

“Lord, please help me to remember… and to live Urged on by Faith…with my focus on You… for Your great glory!!! So be it, Lord!”

Truly… I’ve imagined writing this for so long. Just imagining entitling a post “We Have a Job” has been a source of encouragement over the months of waiting. And here it is.

James is the new Minister of Education at First Baptist Church in *Cleveland, MS*! We are so excited! I can’t wait to serve the Lord and the body of Christ in the role of “minister’s wife” again.  The church vote was beautifully confirming, and the people are genuinly loving!  They are ready for the work a Min. of Ed. does, and James is ready to lead out in that work.  It is a perfect fit!

We could not have had a better weekend.  Thank you so much for praying for us!  Each of you who prayed had a part in what God did, and we are so grateful.

We are leaving the “city” and moving back to a small town!  I can hardly wait!  I grew up just ONE HOUR AND FIFTEEN MINUTES away from Cleveland. My mom is still in Batesville, MS and I can get to her house in just a little more time than it takes me to get to a favorite quaint shopping area outside of Nashville. Whoohoo!  It will be a very welcomed change in the pace of life!!!!!

Cleveland is an old Southern town with lots of charm and history. Our church is on a block with several other churches, and there seems to be a beautiful comraddare between the different appendages of the Complete Body of Christ in our new town.  If you really want to know what it is like in Cleveland, check out this link.

EDITED TO ADD: Here is a link to our wonderful new church!  🙂

We don’t know when the family will move yet. James starts work on May 1st, and besides that, we are still on God’s “urged on by faith they went…without troubling their minds about where they were going” plan. (Or better: when they were going there, and where they would live once they arrived.) Ha ha.

For now, we are just so glad that Cleveland, MS is where we are going! 

Early in our journey, the Lord orchestrated an opportunity for James to serve as the third person under a very well known and respected pastor in one of the larger Southern Baptist churches in the United States.  The salary and benifits were incredible.  It was everything most people would look at and say, “You’re a fool not to jump on this.”

But as we prayed about it, the Lord made it abundantly clear that His answer for us was, “No.  This is not what I have for your family.”  After we told them the Lord’s answer, we went through 2 1/2 months of complete silence.  No other interviews or job offers.  Even the churches we had previously interviewed with were silent in getting back to us as to whether they wanted to move on to someone else, or move on in the interview process.  It was a hard 2 1/2 months.  Many times we went back to the Lord for clarification.  And graciously, He gave it every time, reminding us to “Obey Him for today, and trust Him for tomorrow.”

Now our Faithful God has let us see what He had in store for us all along, why we had to wait, and how He was working behind the scenes of silence in preparing this church for us and us for this church.  We are SO thankful that we obeyed and waited!  If we had taken the “good”, we would have missed the “best”.  And for our family, FBC Cleveland is the “best”!!!!!

It’s kind of funny how the Lord put this church and us together.  They felt that they already had God’s man for them in the works, and were seeing an end to the search in sight, when ONE MORE RESUME came to the chairman’s house.  One more.  And it was James’.  Someone sent it to him, but I don’t even think he opened it right then.  God started quickly closing doors with the other person, so they opened the enevelop, and got in touch with James.  It’s what God had planned all along.

Then in God’s perfect timing (which so often seems so slow to us!!!), He put us and the committee together, and the rest is what we pray is the beginning of a long history of ministry and fruit-bearing within the body of Christ!

Nathan and Abigail have made some friends, and both are looking forward to living there.  (That in itself is a HUGE gift from God!)  James and I feel like we fit right in.  We found a house that we adore, that even has a place where my mom could come and live with us in the future. 

God has gone before our every step.  We can see that now.  We knew He would, but now we can see where He did.  He still has lots to do to get us to Cleveland though, but we have every confidence that He who began this good work will complete it to perfection! 

The 9 months and 22 days of waiting on the Lord for a job are over.  Today, Monday April 19, marks Day 1 of a new journey with Him. 
I can say this with all my heart: It has been a special journey, and I love the Lord more, because of it. Our spiritual muscles of faith are stronger and so are our children’s.  If we are ever tempted to wonder if God will take care of us in the future, we can look back on this journey and KNOW that the answer is YES!  He is the same today, yesterday, and forever.

“Oh Lord, thank you for Your faithfulness.  Period.  To us, and to everyone who calls upon you for help.  Thank You for this time in our lives when we had no choice but to trust You.  Like the children of Israel at the Red Sea, You brought us to a place where we could either trust and obey, or drown and be destroyed.  Thank You that You parted many waters for us, and that you will part many more before our complete journey ends.  I love You.  I trust You. Please glorify Yourself through this life we are living.  Please help us to continue to walk “urged on by faith” wherever it is that you lead us. Please help us to bless You and others in all we do…so much more is in my heart that my hand’s can’t yet type, but I thank You advance and praise You in the Powerful and Loving Name of Jesus… a men.”

Thank you so much for being a vital part of our journey Urged on by Faith!  I’m praying for so many of you right now as I type this.  I love you and thank God for all He is doing in your lives as He us urging you on by faith, too.  I know you will find Him faithful… because that’s Who He is.

Much love to each of you~
Jennifer

This is a picture of my current “favorite” coffee cup. I have lots of favorites, and choose them daily by my mood or by my need. I’ve been drinking out of this one A LOT lately!

Trust. It’s a HUGE concept when you really think about it. For years, I’ve “trusted” the Lord, but I’ve always kept my hand in what He was doing, trying to “help” Him along. But for this season of our lives, every time I extend my hand in to try to help Him, it NEVER works out! (Shocker, I know!)

For instance: Every time I’ve thought we found a part time job to carry us through as we “wait” on the Lord, it has slipped through our fingers. I’m tutoring some students after school, but they’ve been canceling more weeks than they’ve been coming. We’ve both applied to substitute teach, and haven’t worked a single day at that job…

I can not tell you How. Many. Times. The Lord has said to us – “Stop fretting and Trust ME. I WILL take care of you!”. He has led us down some paths of trusting Him during these past 9 months that, to those who are watching our lives, seem almost illogical and irresponsible. But we have obeyed Him and (I’m ashamed to insert here the words: timidly more often than boldly) walked those paths. And not to our surprise, we have found Him to be faithful with every step.

Sometimes I still think I have to repeatedly remind him that He promised to take care of us. Actually, I’ve been drinking out of this cup and reminding Him a lot this week! God has asked us to trust Him in some BIG ways within the past week.  But we both know that it’s not God that needs the reminder… it’s me!

In processing all of this, and deciding to rest in the fact that God will do what He says He will do…I had a “light bulb” moment. At exactly 11:13am, Wednesday, April 07, 2010, I realized that

There is such peace when you finally surrender to trust God with something you can’t control in the first place.

I felt like knocking myself upside the head and saying, “Wow, I should have had a V-8!”

OF COURSE there is peace when we “Let go and Let God!” So W.H.Y. don’t we? I honestly don’t know the answer. I’m sure it has something to do with our sin natures and our desires to be the bosses of everything!

Anyway, my heart is at rest today, and I just wanted to share this little nugget of truth with you.

“If you decide for God, living a life of God-worship, it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. {Ouch!} There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.” Matthew 6:25-26 Msg.

A men?

I have one more happy thing to share: Urged on by faith, The Lord has shown us where we are going. Yeah with clappy-hands!!! We just don’t know anything else about getting there! One piece of the puzzle is back in place – a different one than before – but if I know anything about the Lord, I know that in His PERFECT timing, He’ll place every single piece right where they need to be – and we’ll all look at it in amazement and praise. Wish I could spill the beans, but I’ll be able to tell you more (or at least what I know) in about two weeks.

Until then, I’m resting in the Lord and having a V-8 out of my Trust cup!

You will keep in perfect peace the mind [that is] dependent [on You], for it is trusting in You.”  Isaiah 26:3 (HCSB)
Thanks for being a special part of our journey, “urged on by faith”. Much love to each of you!

(And if you’re new to Smelling Coffee, and are wondering what in the world I’m talking about, check out the tab at the top of my blog, “Our Journey: Urged on by Faith.)

****Edited to add:
This was from the Devotional “Jesus Calling” on March 30, 24, and April 9 – I was catching up when I read this and for my own sake, had to add it here…

” I am taking care of you.  Trust Me at all times.  Trust Me in all circumstances.  Trust Me with all your heart.  When you are weary and everything seems to be going wrong, you can still utter these four words, “I TRUST You, Jesus.”  By doing so, you release matters into My control, and you fall back into the security of My everlasting arms.”  {How AWESOME is that!!!!?}

“Stop trying to work things out before their times have come.  Accept the limitations of living one day at a time.  When something comes to your attention, ask Me whether or not it is part of today’s agenda.  If it isn’t, release it to my care and go on about today’s duties.  When you follow this practice, there will be a beautiful simplicity about your life.  A time for everything, and everything inits time.”

“When your mind goes into neutral and your thoughts flow freely, you tend to feel anxious and alone.  YOur focus becomes Problem Solving.  To get your mind back into gear, just turn toward Me, bringing yourself and your problems into My presence…

Each moment you can choose to practice My Presence or to practice the presence of problems.”

Today I declare that I’m choosing the Practice of God’s Presence over the practice of the problem’s presence!!! 🙂