Today in church, I heard a message that impacted me greatly and really convicted me. If you read my post, “Overcoming Fear,” you will get an idea of where my mind has been recently. Unfortunately, fear for my children’s safety is only part of my current internal struggle. I have also been dealing with fear in the areas of our future plans and our finances. I have been feeling anxious and hopeless at times, and I’ve been struggling to come up with solutions in my own power. It is AMAZING how quickly I forget to seek God first and to leave all of my problems in His hands!
Now this does not mean that we should be completely apathetic, lazy or careless with our finances and our family’s future! Not by any means!!! It means that we need to be prayerful about it and listen for the guidance of the Holy Spirit to let us know when and how we need to act. However, worrying plays ABSOLUTELY NO ROLE in God’s plan for our lives!!!
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[e]? -Matthew 6:25-27 (NIV)
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. – Matthew 6:28-34 (NIV)
When we recognize a problem, we need to bring it to God, leave it there and wait for His directions. God answers every prayer with one of three responses: “Yes,” “No” or “Not yet.” We may not get the answer we were hoping for, but God’s plans are ALWAYS better than our own!!!
Three years ago, I was a single woman with no kids, living in the city, working two jobs and leading an active social life. Today, I am a quad-riding, chicken raising, homesteading, married stay-at-home-mom raising three kids in the country! I have absolutely NO social life outside of spending time with my family, and I don’t mind that one bit! Who would have thought that I would be here today writing a blog about homesteading and parenting?! God is full of surprises, but this surprise life that I have inherited is one of the best things that has ever happened to me! (This is where my blog name “Blessings In Surprise” originated.) I can’t imagine ever going back to the way things used to be!
The point of sharing this story with you is to illustrate the following:
God can see the future. We can’t. We think we know what we want and what we need, but only God TRULY knows those things! I wasn’t looking for a farm life when I met my husband and his three incredibly amazing children. I loved living in the city! Now that I’m here, however, I can’t imagine ever living in the city again!!! I have fallen in love with growing and preserving our own food and eating farm fresh eggs from our chickens everyday! My new goal in life is to buy a large chunk of land and start an organic farm! I NEVER could have seen that one coming!!! God chose to bless me with this life because he knew that I would love it, even though it’s not what I expected.
I have seen God’s incredible hand at work in my life in miraculous ways! Every great milestone that He has helped me to achieve has all come as a result of one thing… spending time with Him! Reading the Bible, attending small group studies, spending time in prayer, singing worship to God and just listening for His wisdom as I journaled in a notebook are all ways that I draw closer to Him. It is CRUCIALLY important to have a body of believers around you for support!!! It is definitely no cakewalk to be a Christian in today’s society, and it is so easy to get off track when you don’t have good Christian friends to hold you accountable.
Just remember that every obstacle is an opportunity for growth. It is an opportunity for God to show you how good He is. It is your chance to show Him that you trust Him. God has already won the battle!
31 “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” -Romans 8:31 (NIV)
37 “…we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[k]neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” –Romans 8:37-39 (NIV)
Armed with this knowledge, we should greet every struggle with an unwavering positive attitude. We know that there is no being in existence who is more powerful than God. We know that God only wants good things for us. We know that God desires to bless us. We should walk into every challenge excited to see the miracle that God is going to perform on our behalf. We should come to him, lay our problems at his feet, hand over the steering wheel, take a deep breath and enjoy the peace of His presence. We can trust Him with EVERYTHING!!! Rejoice and worship in the midst of the storm. There is NOTHING that worrying will do to benefit you or the situation in which you find yourself. Come to God, listen for His instructions… and find REST!!!
If you are not currently a believer and/or you have questions about what that means, please email me at anne@blessingsinsurprise.com and I would love to chat with you and help you to find the answers to your questions. God bless!