Trusting God Brings Me Peace

 Trusting God Brings Me Peace

Today I am driving to the trailhead of Havasupai Falls in the Grand Canyon.  My senior son and I are backpacking together.  This is one of the perks of not having a husband… I get to do some neat one-on-one things with my kids.  The timing however is not perfect….

We ended up getting an offer on the house…which was very low, so I countered.  They countered back and I countered again.  Of course they wanted to come see it again last night when I was traveling!  This morning as I prepare to go ‘off grid’ for three days, I still have not heard back

Am I a little stressed?

I admit, I’ve had a few lapses of trust and faith… but I keep remembering my past experiences and the things I have felt.  I keep choosing to have faith and trust and to reject fear.

Here’s a little bit of the story…

My son, on a mission in Chile, knew nothing about the house showing or the offer.  When he emailed Monday, this was our conversation...

My son: I was walking back from the supermarket and this just popped into my head. Something happened with the house. I thought it had sold. Don’t ask me how, but I knew something was going to happen with the house today. Anything up? 

Mom: We got an offer on the house on Friday night. It was pretty low.  I countered back.  I haven't heard back yet.  We will see. 

My son: It´ll sell. 95% sure. I got a really, really weird jerk on my train of thought going down the escalator in Lider. I was thinking about something completely different. God let me know. It was about an hour and a half ago. It´ll sell. 

That was a wonderful reassurance to me.  

I had spent a significant time praying and pondering about the problem on Saturday.  I had felt good about countering back, but I had felt that the house would ultimately sell for a lower, very specific number, one that would require me to come up with a significant amount of money to get out of it.

Why would God let my house sell for the lower amount instead of for what I needed?

My answer was this…

“You need to let the money go and trust that God will take care of you.”

I don’t know how, but that is what I am going to trust in… 

that has been the lesson for me. 

“Trust God 100%”

Trusting God gives me peace

So how do you get to the point where you learn to trust Him like that?  How do you learn to leap when He commands, not knowing where you will land?

A teacher once told me, “Faith is taking 3 steps in the dark before you see the light.”

Experience and Practice are the only way to learn this.

When we are put in situations that are difficult and the answers are not immediately apparent, we are forced to take those steps forward in faith, exerting our trust.

John 7:17- If any man will DO his will, he will KNOW the doctrine. 

It’s important to note that we have to DO first before we KNOW.  This is very contrary to what most of us want.  We want evidence BEFORE we exert that trust.

Last year the process of selling my house was so painful and NOT peaceful because I had my will AGAINST God.  I did not TRUST Him.  I wanted my answers NOW.  I wanted it MY way.  I was going to DO it my way, even if that meant being impatient and irritable with my family.  I was in the wrong, and I felt that my behaviors and responses were justified.  

When I was in that frame of mind, the Lord couldn’t help me.  

I had separated myself from Him because I was choosing to be upset.  

Technically, I really needed to change my behavior and get myself back aligned with Him.  I needed to pray to be enabled with more trust and to get peace.  Bit by bit my experience each time taught me that, and as I began to try to change then I gained the ability to change.

Over and over again we have to be put in difficult circumstances that require us to turn to God and learn to trust.  If we are willing to make changes in ourselves and to exercise that trust, and then in time as we LOOK, we will begin to see the patterns in our lives that show us that God does take care of us.  I say ‘LOOK’ because those patterns aren’t necessarily obvious at first, and our frame of mind determines if our eyes are ‘OPEN’ to see them.

Our faith grows, not by having it easy, but by acting and watching the results.

So last night as I began to feel the pressure of being without cell service I reminded myself..

“When you don’t know what to do, go to the Lord.  Ask for ideas of what to do. Be specific in your prayers… pray for strength, pray for courage to do what you need to do.”

So before I left for the trail I spent the night praying…

I said, “I’m struggling with my faith. I fear it is faltering… ‘Help thou my unbelief’.' Please help me know what to do and to feel peace.”

In the morning I knew what to do.  

I called my relator and told him to take any counter offer down to that ‘lower number.’  I told him if they didn’t counter back to tell them that I would take the lower number.  Then I got in the car and put my faith and trust in the prompting I had received.

So…I guess I will find out in three days.  

I’ll post the results and some pictures from our trip