Faith

Faith. Heb 11 : 1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. I am a planer, I LOVE plans. My husband's job is always a challenge to me. He is a carpenter....building is not exactly at it's peak these days. God knows that I love plans. He likes to use my plans to remind me that I am not in control. It took me a few years to figure this out after I got saved. Actually since I put my faith and trust in the Lord not a single one of my plans have ever worked out!
I always forget that faith requires me giving over control. Isaiah 26:4 Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. It is so easy to read verses like that and smile, but how quick I can forget the truth. Shortly after we got saved Luke started in the union. He worked from Jan 08 till September 09. A few days before September I was filling stagnant in my walk with the Lord and prayed for Him to grow my faith. Luke got laid off the next week. He was laid off until May of 2010. God used that time to grow me and stretch me in so many ways. I still planed though. For the first few months I planed like crazy! Every week had plan a though z worked out for bill's and for Luke to find work. I slowly learned to rely on God and to be mellow. God was trying to teach me about peace.
You know the kind that passes all understanding. Well I was not getting it. But through those 9 months God grew my faith in ways that I could not imagine.
I slowly let go of my planing. Well kind of..on most days. We got around to March and we started praying, OK Lord if you want us to stay here (Washington) we would love to have a job back. Well as most of you know every time we make our move to leave Washington... God tells us to stay. So Luke went back to work in May of 2010. Through much prayer God told us at this time, it was time to move also. We moved closer to Luke's work and ended up north of Seattle. We found a new church and everything was going well. Until July of 2010. Then out of no where Luke get's laid off again.
It was a job that was suppose to be stable for 2 years, and he was the only one that got laid off. Our lease was up in 3 weeks, and we thought ok It is time to go. This was it, our chance to get out of Washington! So I made a few plans...Only like 3 or 4. Not to many, right? Plan 1 was to throw a dart at a map and just go. Plan 2 was to pack everything into storage and drive around the country and pray and see where we land. Plan 3 was to move to Alaska. Plan 4 was to go on a trip then help the Savages out with some work. We decided to take the weekend off and meet with our pastor on Tuesday. Well that meeting was quite a meeting. The kind where God shows up big and squishes all my plans.
Our Pastor asked us to stay. To move into the houses that the church owns and to look into bible school via corresponding. Well Ok, I guess so. That was my attitude at first. We threw out the fleece and told God if he wanted us to stay that we needed a job. And guess what??? You guessed it he got a job. The move was kinda hard on me because it meant that God was closing the door on foster care(that is another post). But also so crystal clear to me was God will for our life. Which is a beautiful thing when you can look back and see His timing and perfection in life. God has always made his direction for our lives so very clear.
why the long post? Well it is time again. Luke's job is over next week. There is no new job on the horizon. So what is my plan? For the first time I don't have one. Isaiah 32:17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever. I do worry sometimes, but I try not to. I have seen a week of work turn into a month and have seen Luke come home with 2 checks (that means he got laid off). The difference this time is that we are excited about our future here and feel like this is where God wants us. So what does God have in store?
All I know is that he will provide perfectly, it is just the how that I wonder about. He always does, and always will. If you can't tell I am studying through Isaiah. I love it,it is all about who are you putting your faith in? And God lays out his promise for me. Isaiah 35:10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. And my new favorite verse Isaiah 37:31 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward.
Why the toes? My favorite Christmas present! Have a great weekend...