How Long Will You Trust Him? How Long Will You Wait On the Lord?

Good morning everyone,

The best way we can share our Lord with one another is through our testimony. Telling each other and those outside of this group how we made it through our trials, and who was responsible for getting us through can give hope to the hopeless. Witnessing to God's Grace and Mercy could mean the difference between someone giving up or holding on.

I would have lost heart, unless I believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait I say, on the Lord! Psalm 27:13-14

My husband and I renewed our wedding vows on our 30Th wedding anniversary. As we stood before God family and friends for the second time, I told him this time I had a deeper understanding and a better appreciation for the vows we made to each other in our youth. I told him with regards to the "for better or worse" part I didn't know if we had seen the last of the "worst" this world had to offer, but I was certain the "best" God had in store for us was yet to come. Little did I know I was speaking a prophetic word over our lives.

Four months after we returned from our second honeymoon, my husband was laid off. We were no strangers to lay offs we'd both been there and done that before, but somehow we both sensed this was different. We had no idea we were about to embark upon a spiritual journey that would teach us the value of waiting on and trusting in the Lord.

What you need to understand is not every trial comes from the devil. Sometimes God is trying to shift your focus. Sometimes He just wants to teach you to trust your Source (GOD) and not your resources (Job). What we initially thought was an attack from the enemy on our finances and our peace we later came to understand was really a God orchestrated set back; setting us up for a comeback. By the time our journey was over we recognized it as an answered prayer.

The one thing I desired of the Lord the one thing I had prayed for constantly was more time with my husband. I wanted him home in the evenings and on holidays. More than anything I wanted him home on the weekends so we could attend church together. I wanted us to worship, praise and serve the Lord together side by side. While I acknowledged it was difficult because of his work schedule I also suspected he used the job as a convenient excuse not to do what he knew he should be doing and to be where he knew he should be. When he was off I felt like I had to choose between my husband and my God.

As bitter resentment built up I turned into a nagging shrew, and instead of drawing him closer to me and God I pushed him further and further away. My beautiful niece wise beyond her years, advised me to turn it over to the Lord. She told me to stop asking God to change my husband and ask him to change me. I did just that. I began to pray for God to change me and our situation. I trusted the Lord and I waited. Our God is a patient God, but when we consistently operate contrary to his plans for us, He will remove all obstacles and strip away all our excuses. He will remove anything that separates us from Him. Sometimes He has to take something out of our hands in order to replace it with something better.

I didn't see it at first, when my husband lost his job I saw it only as a negative. After a month of having him home my attitude began to change. There was no job in the way to keep us from doing things together as a family. We not only went back to church, we rejoined our former church and faithfully completed seven months of new members classes. By the time we graduated we were no longer the same couple we were when we began. God showed up and showed out in our lives. My husband was out of work for eighteen months. Toward the end of that time we both acknowledged God's favor; we never missed a beat. All our bills were paid, and all our needs were met, in fact God even blessed us to be a blessing to family members who were also out of work.

In every trial the Lord allows, there are lessons to be learned. We learned that our wealth had nothing to do with the balance in our bank account. We learned we couldn't put a price tag on the time we had together. We learned we could do a lot with a little, if we put the little we had in God's hands. We trusted God to see us through and to supply all our needs. We sought a closer relationship with Him and we were rewarded with a closer and stronger relationship with each other. My husband didn't take the first job that came along, or the job that payed the most money. We trusted God and waited for him to supply us with a job that would allow us to continue what we had started.

After eighteen months the ultimate blessing was a new job that not only provided the income we needed, but the time we had come to treasure. The Bible says you do not have because you do not ask, (James 4:2). We were very specific in our prayers and when God answered he went above and beyond our expectations.

But those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not get weary, They shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

I share our testimony with you as a living witness that God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we think or ask according to the power that works in us (Eph 3:20)

My questions for you today are, what do you desire from the Lord? What have you been praying for? How long will you trust Him? How long will YOU wait on the Lord?