Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you literally have no choice but to do something would prefer not to?? Recently we went through this after we moved to Princeton. We were in a rental home and the owner decided he needed to sell the home due to his recent job loss. We were forced to search for a new place to live and figure out how to physically and financially afford to move in a crazy real estate market - all within 30 days.
This was not even physically feasible for us due to a series of trials in the last year with Todd’s health. He had a broken leg at the time and was in a brace and on crutches. Even if we could secure friends and family to help us, we couldn’t financially afford to move. Panic set in initially. Literally, I felt like we had a big ole’ target on our back. In the last year, we moved to plant the new church, and the season of trials just kept coming.
It reminds me of what happened in the Old Testament when the children of Israel had been released from slavery and they were in the wilderness and the Lord put it in the Pharaoh’s heart to go after them and take them back in to captivity.
“Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today… The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” Exodus 14
To wait and be silent is not a normal human response when you are backed into a corner.
When told we had 30 days to move, we immediately started trying to get a pay advance. We were trying to sell our car to finance the move. Looking on the internet to find a new place to live and working with our realtor.
I’m sure this is what the children of Israel were doing too when they heard that the pharaohs army was after them. They went to work to solve the problem.
Earlier in the chapter in Exodus 14:4, God declares, “I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.”
You’re probably thinking how is a seemingly bad situation good? I know me too. Here we are just trying to survive life and “boom” all hell seems to break loose. Been there? Ever heard he expression “when it rains it pours?” I know you have.
Two days after we were given the thirty-day notice, three individuals came up to Todd at church, two of which knew nothing about the move and gave him an envelope with a with money in it. It was exactly how much we needed to get into a lease home and move.
Yes, while we were waiting and working for a solution, the Lord showed up so that He could obtain the glory for making all the provision. He could have allowed us to just get the advance from our work or sell the car, but he instead chose to bless us in a dramatic way that was unexpected and un-orchestrated, and even undeserved to remind us that He IS in charge of solutions and that He loves us and gives us way more than we deserve..
So, praise him!! Give him the honor and recognition he deserves in all things. Does he always show up? Yes. Is it always like this? No not always. It varies but he always shows up. It is sometimes quietly through simple day to day provision like your job, or through surprising unforeseen circumstances like other obedient believers giving hilariously, or in a huge miracle like in the parting of the red sea. Does it always turn out easy? No, but none the less we still can bring him glory in the season of trials. We can use it to proclaim how wonderful a Savior we have in the good and the bad. Our hope is not in the change of circumstance but in the very one that will walk with us through it. He deserves the glory.
Christ Culture Community Church is a group of believers in Farmersville/Princeton, TX dedicated to making Jesus known; they are located at 12 Stories Coffee Shop in Downtown Farmersville.