Never Stop Learning

We never stop learning. If you think you know it all, you probably know very little. One of the worst areas we have for learning is trusting God. Just like the Israelites we cannot seem to remember lessons learned.

When obstacles appear we always focus on them. We see the Red Sea before us and the Egyptians behind us. We see the thousands of soldiers before us and the few hundred with us. We see a valley of dry bones and nothing else. What we seem to forget and totally ignore is that God is there and He is way bigger and more powerful than the Red Sea, the Egyptians, the soldiers, death. No obstacle is too big for Him. In fact, they don't come up to His big toe. So why do we continually focus on them?

When Paul was in prison, he did not lament his predicament. He did not sit wringing his hands wondering what was going to happen next. He knew that what had happened would be in God's will and that he was going to do what he was told to do, witness, until he got his next marching orders. He did not wonder how he could do anything because he was in jail. He did not wonder how he could continue his ministry. He looked at the circumstances he was in and just did his job. He did not worry about the next ten minutes.

My family and I had a situation just yesterday that seemed to turn our world upside down. I never doubted that God would provide. When it comes to standing on principle, I am almost a bulldog about some things. To sell our soul for money and compromise our believes and values was not even something to discuss. God would always provide when a child of His stands up for what is right and biblical. He has for us each and every time.

Yesterday we were told that my husband was losing his job. OK, really he was losing the funding for that ministry. The ministry would not die and he would not give up following God's plan. But when the carrot was dangled in front of us, we felt caught between a rock and a hard place. Turn the ministry into what all other ministries are (which we have been praised for following the Bible and not man-made ideas and traditions)and lose your salary and not your work funds or continue and have no money at all. Saying we were shocked would be an understatement.

We have been commended for having a ministry that was more reflective of Jesus' while He was on earth. We are like nothing in the entire county and even the surrounding counties. Last night five people sat before us saying that they would be back using drugs or even worse if we were not here for them. We are reaching out to people who have no money, no family that supports them, and feel that there is no good in life. They say that they have found God again. They feel Him when we have fun together, worship together, and pray together. But other churches have commented that they just could not do what we do. They cannot reach many of the lost around here with severe issues. They cannot show them that Jesus is real and obtainable. Yet, if we were put under their direction they would want to take us down paths that would go against everything we do and stand for. They have told us that. The ministry would change and we would have to be like all the others around us.

The obstacle in front of us? Honestly, just money. How would we survive? I have no full-time job. If he loses his, how will we eat. There would be no money to survive on. Do we give in and go against what we and others feel God is leading us to do for money? Or do we say that we have the faith of a mustard seed and stand on principle? We are going to stand on principle. We cannot stand before God and say that we chose money and "peace of mind" over following His direction. Where would our blessings be? We would be miserable. We would be walking in the dark. But when we step out and say that we will be like Noah and follow God no matter how illogical it may sound, we will be the ones above the floods. We will be the ones with the blessings and the true peace. No amount of ridicule or condemnation will change that.

Our God is the only god. He is the only one to save us. He is the only one who has been there for us during the good and the gad. He is the only faithful person we know. He is the only truly supportive person because He is God and cannot be anything less. We follow the commander of all commanders. We follow the leader that leads perfectly. We follow the one who takes care of the lilies and the sparrows and reminds me how much more important I am than them. Why wouldn't He take care of something as tiny as money to live on. He created an amazing universe that we still cannot understand. He created the human body that sends scientists curveballs every time they think they have it figured out. Our God is the focus of our life, not man made rules, traditions, opinions, selfish desires, or controlling needs.

We learned that our faith can be blown in the wind, but just like a tree that bends with the winds instead of being broken into. We bent with the assault of the storm. We felt the pain of going in a direction we were not meant to. But when the storm eased, we pulled ourselves back up and continued growing. This time the growth is stronger.