Sunday Brunch- On a Tuesday!

Monday was the day we found out if we were approved to rent the house. If you don't know what I'm talking about, read this, then, read this. The whole day I caught waves of nausea. But God my Rock came through every time the unsettled feeling in my stomach rose up. I prayed, and it would go away. When it came back I prayed again; and again, He would take it away. I learned many things from this experience that I hope encourages you and spurs you on in your current situations.

God my Storm Catcher 
Ned Flanders is not the poster boy for true Christian living! If anything, being a follower of Christ opens you up to more strife and persecution than if you weren't one. Paul is a great example of this. Saul (Paul before he was transformed) was a Pharisee. He was a Roman Citizen and lived a fairly cushy life. Being a Pharisee, he wasn't the richest of rich like the Saducees, but definitely wasn't scrounging around for his food. After Jesus' death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven, Paul suffered many hardships. 2 Corinthians 11:16-33 attests to his suffering. After he accepted Jesus as the true Messiah, he was beaten, whipped, stoned, imprisoned and shipwrecked multiple times. But still he endured for Christ's sake and the furthering of the gospel message. My storm (more like a cloudy day compared to Paul's issues) came and now it's over. The relief I feel is tremendous, but we need the storms to grow our perseverance, trust, and faith in God my Storm Catcher. I feel stronger and wiser for the trial.

God My Shield and Stability 
My instinct as a human is to try to figure things out on my own. I'm getting better at this and relying on God more but God doesn't want me to rely on Him 75%, or 99.99%. He wants me and you to rely upon him 100% of the time with 100% of our issues be they good, bad, or somewhere in the middle. So during this trial (the whole house situation) I got the idea that I needed God's help in figuring out what our house situation was going to be. What I didn't get is that when you're hiding behind God, you can't be flailing about making a whole bunch of noise! I was hiding behind God like my youngest son hides when he's playing hide and seek- not very well! One time, youngest hid underneath the couch cushions; legs hanging out giggling. That was me in this most recent storm. Well, minus the giggling. I think I did more crying than anything. I'm almost certain God was lovingly laughing at me while I did this.
The reason we should hide behind God is because He's the only one that can wholly shield us from the arrows of the the evil one (Psalm 91:1-4). So finally after a couple of well place txt messages from two different friends that sent me Psalm 46:10- "Be still and know that I am God" and a word another friend had for me (God and nothing else is my stability.) I finally realized that I had to stop freaking out. The ugly cry doesn't look good on me and I was getting in the way of God my Shield and Stability, working in my life.

God My Only Truth 
In our waiting to hear back from the realtor, our neighbor pulled us aside after hearing we were desperately trying to contact our land lady. He shared with us that she said she wanted to move back into the house. He knew of no "owner occupy" clause in mortgages and in his opinion, we had really taken care of the place and she liked the improvements we made so much (which was some landscaping changes, strategically placed furniture, and 5 gallons of paint) that she wanted to live there again. He's also a little older and loves to tell stories. I don't think he was lying. I think he, in his haste to be a good neighbor; to help us out, took a conversation he had with her out of context or embellished the truth. But I was in such a vulnerable space that I was tempted to believe his words as absolute truth. I was tempted to be angry at my landlady. I was tempted to be filled with hate and contempt for everything that was going on and not only harbor ill will and feeling for my land lady but also be nasty toward my family. That's how the enemy works. Rumors and idle talk are dangerous because it can spread and fester like a horrible cancer and cause bad feelings where none are needed. Husband pointed out that he was nice but elderly and to take his words with a grain of salt. God reminded me, through my husband,to stay focused on Him because He is the Truth (John 14:6). So after another cry (I've been a total mess) I wiped my eyes and set my gaze upon God my Only Truth.

God My Answer
I like to learn from past experiences. I try not to make the same mistake twice. In the past, I've prayed for things fervently hoping upon hope that God would grant me my heart's desire. Sometimes He did answer my prayer in the way I asked and I was elated. And sometimes he didn't answer my prayer at all or the outcome of the situation was not what I expected. Often when the latter occurred, I was sour. What I prayed for was good. Why wouldn't He give me my desires? God is not a genie in a bottle; He's not an ATM. He's not any of the things our sinful nature has reduced Him to. He's God. He's sovereign. He's just and He right. All the time. He often doesn't answer my prayer in the way I desire because what he has for me is far greater than I can imagine!
So this time, my prayer was simple- "I want what You want (Mark 14:36, Luke 22:42). If it's Your will that we be approved for this new house, then amen! If we don't get approved, then amen. That means what You have for us is better! Either way, I will praise You because no matter the outcome, You answered my prayer."
You're wondering if we were approved. We were not. Amen! Hallelujah! Praise Be to God! You answered my prayer! God my Answer showed up and shut the door! Woo hoo!!!!!!!!   

God My Shelter
Immediately after the realtor called. A sense of calm and peace came over me. But we still hadn't heard from our land lady. Well, today after an evening of teaching kids how to play the piano, I roll up in the driveway and there is Land Lady sitting, talking with my husband on the front porch. She informs us she doesn't have a phone at the moment. She cancelled her phone plan in preparation to travel long term to Sierra Leone; where she is originally from. But in the wake of the Ebola outbreak, she cannot fly out of the States to her homeland. We knew she was making these preparations. She's been talking about traveling for a year now. She has been stressed about the whole house situation and doesn't want us to leave. It seems, Nosy, our next door neighbor may have had it wrong (I still reserve the right to change that statement if anything happens in the near future). I write her the rent check. I now know what's going on. So for right now, we will literally be still. I will stop looking for houses and continue to dwell in the place that I presently call home. God my Shelter (Psalm 91) remained constant and in tact when I didn't know where our earthly shelter was going to be.

I will continue to pray and seek His goodness no matter what the situation. God showed me His many names through this trial I went through (most of which was an internal trial).

Sunday Brunch happens every Sunday as a spiritual encouragement for readers of the Fiery Wife blog. Come back next week and see what God is serving up for you to eat. "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! (Ps. 34:8)"