Sometimes, we keep asking God to answer our prayers, and when we don’t get what we want, we walk away from God.
I pray about everything. I pray about little things and big things.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
—Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV
The hard part is letting go and trusting in God’s answer. When God is in charge of your life, God takes care of every detail, even those that we cannot imagine. God can also use difficult times to change our hearts.
Almost 8 years ago, my husband lost his job. It took awhile, 7 months, to start a new job. That was one of the hardest times of my life. In addition to losing his job, I had major surgery, and my father passed away. I can still remember the severe stress and torment that made me feel sick. I remember watching my kids play soccer and praying that God would give him a job, so we would not lose everything. God had other plans for us, instead of losing everything, we were in the process of gaining everything, the most important thing, faith in Jesus.
Almost 8 years ago, in October, I had a dream of my family walking around a house with a bunch of windows, like we were going to buy it. I felt two comforting hands on my head and heard the words, “It’s going to be ok.” I woke up in the middle of the night. I woke my husband up and asked if he just put his hands on my head. He groggily replied no, he was sleeping. I told him that everything was going to be ok and about what happened in my dream. I reluctantly said that we would move and get a job, but not until the Spring, hoping it would be sooner.
We had tried to sell our house before the job loss, and it would not sell. Before he lost his job, we wanted to buy this beautiful new house in a new neighborhood. Everything changed. Now, we just wanted to pay the bills. During that time, I started praying and reading the bible. I read that we needed to leave everything behind and move to a place that God had planned for us to live.
So, we prayed and asked God where he wanted us to move. We prayed for a job. We prayed for the right real estate agent. I had always wanted to be a stay at home mom. God gave my husband a new job, we sold our house, moved and bought a new house. God helped me deal with the loss of my dad.
And, then we lived happily ever after, right? Well, is was not that simple or predictable. God gave us a great house with everything that we needed. God was still refining us. We did not have much money, like hardly any. I would make a grocery list after looking at the bank account, like we have $40, what can I get for the week? I would pray that we would be able to pay the bills and stay at our house. My husband’s new job was time intensive. He would leave at 7 AM and get home at 8 PM. God held us together. We didn’t have much, so we had to trust in God. God always gave us what we needed and more.
We have been in our house for 7 years. God has done so many wonderful things in our lives.
Remember that new house we wanted to buy? The houses flooded and the people had to move as the area is now considered a flood zone.
We had some very hard times during the last 7 years too. The difference was that God carried me through it. God gave my heart peace and comfort. God gave me strength, when I was weak. That part of me that was always looking for that elusive “something”, to fulfill me, was filled with Jesus.
So, when things are not going well, I stop and pray that I will live my life according to God’s purpose. God’s plan can be way more complicated than what we understand. Don’t walk away, because you don’t get the answer you thought that you wanted. Stop and trust that God knows better.
Embrace This Beautiful Life 