The Flip Side

LORD woke me with words this morning. I leaned in. Processed. And watched for how to tie it together. Sometimes the words don’t flow. But when He begins it, I know that the words will come. They always do.

SURREAL. It’s surreal when I think that I am living through a pandemic–of my family and friends (you guys) also walking through this qurantined-life. I am rather slack-jawed that this is the time and place that God chose for us to walk and breathe and be lights that shine Jesus for all to see…

I mean, I knew that as God’s own children, we are special and set apart ones–like deep down CALLED–to live in this time–to point others to Christ. I knew it. But somehow I never thought it would play out like this. I never did.

For the story has taken some WILD turns, has it not?

And no matter WHO you think gets the credit for all the spinning lies, the darkness and craziness of the world right now, it’s not them. Not really. It is the prince of this world, Satan, who knows how to spin it just so. Knows how to hit you, right there. Knows how to compound problems, one after the other. He is unrelenting. He is real.

But he is also beaten at his game. It is only a matter of time. Truly.

CALLED TO FAITH

We need to know that no matter who wins the election, how our deeply-rooted causes are reflected, what is happening with school or work or anything–it is all under the Sovereign Authority of God. His allowable will. And sometimes, at least for THIS time we live in, that looks like He condones evil. But He does not. He does, however, allow it and allow Satan to continue to be at work–til Christ’s return (Read Revelation to see! It is the only book of the Bible that promises a blessing on those who read it and obey).

I cannot fully untangle that for you. But to simplify it. God is good. He is equipping you for every good work. He is with you in the battles you face. He is loving you. He sees the BIG timeline…not the temporary one. The vapor of a life we live is purposed to bring about an eternal victory over the enemy, who is ravaging our families, our homes and our hearts.

So, if you picture it like this. There is a great cloud of witnesses, those who have died before us and gone on to Glory, who are cheering us on to run our races. Our race may be long or short, but it IMPACTS. We have God’s angels, who are actively watching over and fighting unseen battles we face. We have the Holy Spirit in us, if we have confessed our faith in Jesus Christ, who shows us the way to take. We have Jesus, who has given us and shown us the Word of God in the Flesh, by walking out God’s plans here on earth. And He died for our sins, bore them all on Calvary. He rose again on the third day–which is why Satan and death are beaten. And anyone who calls (ANYONE) on the name of Jesus WILL be saved. Once and for all. For Jesus will return. And SOON. We have God, the Father, who is a perfect Father–who we are in relationship with daily, because of Jesus. He is ordering it all. He is working in us to will and to act according to His good plans for us, plans to prosper us and not harm us–to give us a hope and a future!

It seems quite complicated, but it is simple enough for a child to understand, grasp and believe. For if God is FOR us, then who can be against us?

So back to the beginning….SURREAL. It seems unreal that we are living in this time. We have no control over the future, but we know (or CAN know) the One who does. And in His hands, surrendering our will to Him, we are going to be just fine.

We may die. Yes. But to live–we live for Christ Jesus here. To die–we gain Heaven and forever are set apart to walk with God in the cool of the day, as He always wanted us to do. He gave Adam and Eve a choice. They chose poorly, so he made a Way–a Bridge–to return back to Him. His name is Jesus.

He gives us a choice today, too. He is still tenderly calling us home to Him.

So if that is all true, and if I rightly broke down what I felt God was saying to me this morning, then we can live for Him BOLDLY in this day. We can take the risks and be courageous. We can stop building castles of sand and start building for the life He meant for us to live.

What if we gave up holding that grudge, controlling that situation, getting angry, blaming others, shouting profanities…what if we just surrendered it all to God and grabbed His hand today? For that is what He is asking you right now.

SURREAL? Yes.

SURRENDER? Your call.

My Personal Story:

A year ago, I began to feel a real pull to stay at home again, as a mom and wife. You see, there are gifts I give my family that only I can give. And over the past five years, it has been the gift of stabilizing our local (familial) economy. For we have followed God for years, from place to place–with each story being different. And this one to College Station did not go the way we anticipated. I had quit all my jobs to begin being a stay at home mom then. But real-life situations presented themselves, and I HAD to work. By the way, I LOVE being a stay at home mom. It has always been my favorite job. And believe me, it is work. But I love it. Every one is called differently….that is mine.

So I felt the tug again a year ago to stay home. I asked friends and family to pray for an exit strategy for me. In my head that meant pray for a way for us to financially make it without me working, then I would quit. BUT IT DID NOT HAPPEN THAT WAY.

No. In October 2019, Chris was let go from his job. And I began to work longer and harder than ever before to keep us going. THEN GOD opened the door for Chris to work at Texas A&M–the VERY reason we thought God brought us here! An answer to prayer! But it came with a massive pay cut. So I continued to work to help our little boat to keep going.

At the same time last year, when Chris was laid off, a shift had indeed happened at my work. They began to systematically and purposefully push me out of my job position and to push me to quit. It reached a high point on August 14th of this year. I was greatly mishandled. I was lied to. I knew it. THEY knew it. If I was going to be drawing unemployment (I’m not), I would have to take steps to show all that happened. And I could show it. Prove it. But God told me one thing, I will go to battle for you here. And He has! And He is.

If the timing had been in my hands, I would still be working.  Working ’til I could SEE that the roadway ahead was clear for my family financially. I could be the master of my ship and give notice and la-la-la-leave on a better note. I hate discord. I really do. But what they meant for my harm, God means for my GOOD! HalleluYAH!

We still do not have/ cannot prove/ do not SEE the provision. But we both firmly believe that God is going to provide for us. Watch and see, He says.

And I believe Him.

For I have believed Him before.

I have seen Him do the impossible.

I have seen Him raise the dead.

I have seen Him heal the sick.

I have experienced His rich provision.

I have watched Him care for my children in AMAZING ways.

And right now?

Right now, I’m a stay at home mom. And I’m doing the thing He made me to do. And I’m doing it ’til He calls me home.

No more looking for jobs…but accepting the provision God gives. And that may mean a project, here and here. It may mean finding other ways to go farther with what we have. It might mean finding places of “egg money”–but it mostly means that once again, God has answered my prayer.

And for THAT, I praise Him!

The HOW was hard. But the end result was absolutely and entirely JUST what I felt all along.

This has already gone on too long now. But if you want to read stories where God called people to HARD situations to carry out His very good and WONDERFUL will, I would like to point you to Joseph, son of Jacob, to Ruth, to Esther, to Job….and that is just the tip of the iceberg. He works in us His good purposes.

No matter the how….He goes with us and will fulfill what He has said.

Now lean in and listen to what He says to you this day.