Trusting God in the Silence

Trust is a hard thing.

Trusting in people can be very difficult as people often fail us. People have shortcomings and don't always live up to our expectations. I remember when my husband and I started dating in college. I had a really hard time trusting him as I had been let down by so many people in my life. Was it his fault? Not all all! But he felt the result of my lack of trust and had to spend time building up my trust in Him. People are human. They make mistakes. So it makes complete sense that we might have a hard time putting our trust in people.

But trusting God.....well, that shouldn't be difficult at all....right?

I mean, God is always there for us. God never leaves us. So that should mean that we have absolute faith in Him and trust Him with anything. ...right...???

Why is it so hard to trust God? Why is it so hard to believe that our Creator God has everything under control?

I think the answer lies in exactly what I mentioned before. We are human! And because we are human, we want to be the ones in control.

I mean, think about a little kid playing with other kids their age. Don't they always try to take the toy for themselves?

MINE!!!!

"Mine" is such a common word for kids as they want to have everything they see and have control of the world around them. They are selfish because they haven't learned how to share and how to think about others.

Isn't that like us? We want to take control over our lives. We want to be in the driver's seat instead of handing the controls over to God...because handing the controls over to Him means that we are letting Him determine what happens!

Trusting God is just like that! It is all about handing the controls over to Him and letting Him navigate you through life. It means giving control to Him when things are going good. But it also means giving Him control when things aren't going good.

How often do we try to rip the steering wheel out of His hand when things don't go like we thought they would? We instantly take over as we think we know the best plan. But do we really?

Think of yourself as a small ant crawling in the tall grass of your yard. The ant doesn't see where the best route is...the ant only sees in front of himself. He won't know if there's a big log a few feet away. He won't be able to forsee the pit of sand coming up around the corner. And he definitely doesn't know where the attack dog is sitting in the yard.

Now picture God standing at the edge of the lawn looking over the yard...much like you would do when you stand in your yard. God sees the best route. God sees that log a few feet away. He knows where the sand pit is and He certainly knows where the attack dog is. If that ant...(aka...YOU!) listens to God's voice, He will help you navigate through all the rough areas of life. He sees the big picture. He knows the best route.

But what about the times God is silent?

You know what I'm talking about. Those times when you pray and you don't hear His voice. Those times when you aren't 100% sure of His plan. Those times when, as the Footprints in the Sand poem states, there was only one set of footprints. Those times when we feel alone.

Where is God then? How can we trust Him when He is silent? How can we trust Him when we don't see any results? How can we keep having faith when it seems like we are spinning our wheels and nothing is happening?

The bottom line is God is there in ALL those times.

He has never left.

He may be silent for a season. He may not speak to your heart in the time frame you wish. But that doesn't mean He is gone. That just means He is working behind the scenes!

Our God stands at the edge of the yard and continues to navigate us through life, even when it seems like He is silent.

In those times where you are waiting on God, have faith. He is still there.

In those times where it seems like you don't have an answer, keep trusting. He is working even when it seems like nothing is happening.

In those times where you feel like you are losing hope, keep pressing on. God hasn't left for a moment.

You can put your complete faith and trust in our God because He WILL come through!

It may not be in your timing. It may not be in the way you expected. But trust me, I know from experience, He is always there.

Whatever you are dealing with in your life right now, know that you can place that burden in the arms of your Jesus. He will never....ever....let you down!

Keeping in Step

My husband and I have recently embarked on a new adventure...of which I have been getting LOTS of questions about! And let me just say, I have had plenty of my own questions for God about this also! So let me address it here and answer all of your questions.

First off, yes, you are correct if you have wondered if our house is for sale...or if you have driven by and seen the sign and wondered if that was a figment of your imagination.

But to answer the most common question....No...we are not leaving Tomah!!! We are still pastors here and don't plan to change that anytime soon! We have had random people in town (people who we don't even know) come up to us and say they saw our house for sale and wondered if we were getting a different pastor position. Kinda funny how people know who we are and where we live and we don't even know those people!

We love being pastors here in Tomah. We love our church and all the people here. This is our home...and our family. So please rest assured that we aren't going anywhere anytime soon!

So then. Why in the world would we sell our house?

That's a question I've asked God myself many times in the past month. I absolutely love our home! We have 5 bedrooms which means we have enough room when all our kids are home...plus we have additional space for friends they might have over or for our parents if they are visiting. We have 2 living rooms, one of which has my office space where I work everyday. We have a gorgeous (and I mean GORGEOUS) screened in deck with a serene view. In fact, as I write this now, I am sitting on our deck which Scooby lounges here and watches for wildlife. Our deck is my perfect place for prayer time!

When I think about leaving this house, it makes me sad! We've put time and money into fixing up this house to be the perfect place for our family. It's home. It's my safe place. It's the place that makes me happy. It's the place my kids call home.

So when my husband posed the question a few months back about downsizing and moving to a different house, I was obviously completely against the idea. What....was he crazy? I would never leave my home. Besides the fact that I totally HATE the moving process. Why pack up everything and move across town? That seemed silly. His reasoning was that we certainly didn't need a 5 bedroom house that was this large when all our kids would be grown and out of the house in a very short time. I saw his point. But still...this is HOME!

As the months passed, my husband didn't say much more about his thought about moving. He made a few comments, all of which I quickly dismissed. In fact, one day we were going to a rummage sale in a neighborhood in Tomah and he said, "Would you ever want to live in a house in this area?" Again, I quickly shut down his thoughts.

Um...what do you think? I don't want to move!

Or so I thought.

God began to work on my heart. Slowly...yes...I take more time than some....

As we took our new youth pastors around to look at houses for them, something stirred within me. Something so foreign. I began to see myself living in a different place. It began to look exciting. It began to be an idea that I entertained.

Could I really do this? Is this really what God was speaking to us?

After much prayer since that point, my husband and I have discerned the voice of God is in fact leading us to put our house on the market. I know this is a God thing. He has stirred both of our hearts in the same direction. Me...just a bit slower than my husband...

Our heart's desire is to keep in step with the Spirit. We want to walk the path God has for us, even if it means taking steps of faith. And let me tell you, putting your beloved house on the market is definitely a step of faith!

What is God's plan for us? I don't know exactly. That remains to be seen. God doesn't show us the whole picture at once. I mean, if He did, we would have no reason to trust in Him, right? I know His plan is for us to stay in Tomah. I know that He has prompted us to put our house on the market. I know that He has led us to a house that we put an offer on (and has been accepted contingent on us selling ours). And this very house just happens to be in the same neighborhood where we were at the rummage sale when my husband suggested we move!

But beyond that???? It's all steps of faith. It's in God's hands now. It's up to Him to determine where this goes from here. We've done our part, now He does His part! He will either bring a buyer for our house...or He will have us stay in our house that we are in now.

I don't know know exactly why He's prompting us to do this. I just know we have to obey. The rest is up to Him.

If He doesn't sell our house, I will be happy staying here! And then you wonder why He would have us put it on the market if it doesn't sell. Well, maybe He just wants to see if we are faithful. Would we give up our house that we love if He asked us to? Would we follow him blindly?

And if He does sell our house, well I have to believe that our new house would be even better than the one we have now. I believe if we end up moving, I'll find even more "home" in that house. I also believe that He'll make that a home for our kids!

No matter what happens, we are just gonna stay in step with our God!