Through It All

Faith must continue. The journey does not end with the telling of the story. Each and every day there are things that I face that I need to bring to God to help me deal with. I don't always know how things are going to turn out. I don't always know what my next step should be. But what I do know is that I am never alone and I am always able to go to Jesus and ask for help. He is always there. As you can tell from the story so far, what I would have wanted to have happen wasn't the way He worked things out for me. There have been times when I was really afraid, but He never left me alone to deal with my fears. And He always had help right there.

Too many times we hear that once you become a Christian life should be without troubles. That is not what the Bible teaches. In fact, many times, for many Christians, life can become harder because of the persecution they have to face for their choices. All you have to do is read about the missionaries around the world who are sometimes tortured for their faith, and the Christian converts who are arrested, tortured, and even killed for their faith in Jesus Christ. The persecution we face here in America for being Christian is little compared to what these brave believers face every day. Yet, we also have our trials and tribulations here. It comes with the territory. What we also have is a God who loved us enough to give His precious Son's life to pay the awful price for the penalty of our sins. We no longer owe that debt to Him because Jesus took our sins upon Him on the cross. All we have to do is believe it and accept that gift He gave for us. With everything we end up going through in our lives, nothing compares to what we have in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. I cannot imagine what would have happened to me without Him in my life. One thing I am sure of, I would not be here today.

I don't know what the rest of my life holds in store. I don't know what tomorrow holds. What I do know is that I can hang on to Jesus and I will be okay. Life can be a wild ride--an adventure. Right now I am continuing to trust God in several areas of my life including my health, my in finances, my shelter/home, and my relationships. I trust Him with the little decisions I have to make every day and I trust Him for the major decisions that come my way. Right now I think I need a new place to live even though He is the One who provided this place for me. There are some major things that I need that this place does not offer me so I have been looking for somewhere else for several months now. In fact, I had planned on being moved by this time. But it hasn't happened and I am still looking...still waiting. With God, there is a lot of waiting at times. Other times the answer can come almost immediately. For instance, the car I am driving now was given to me on Mother's Day three years ago. I prayed and asked God to provide me with a minivan the night before, Saturday. The next morning at church a minivan was offered to me through very interesting channels. Basically, I was at one of the entrances greeting people as they came into the church and handing out the bulletins. The church secretary who is also a friend of mine came and asked me if I still needed a car, and I said yes, why? She said she would be right back. She came back a few minutes later and told me another person in the church had a car they were giving away to someone who might need one in the church, so she told him about me. After I was done greeting I met with the gentleman and was offered the car for free, if I wanted it...a minivan. I had possession of it that afternoon, less than 24 hours after my prayer request. On the other hand, there are other requests I have been waiting for much, much longer. And there have been things impressed upon me by the Holy Spirit through various pastors' sermons, Scriptures, and in other ways, that seem impossible...and in human terms are quite impossible. But the Bible says nothing is impossible with God. The Bible says all things are possible with God. And the Bible also says, without faith it is impossible to please Him. So I wait. Somethings I have been waiting to see the fulfillment of my faith in what He has said to me for years. It can get very discouraging at times. But everytime I am discouraged, He shows up with just the right encouragement I need. And I remember that God is never late. He is always right on time.

Mr. Andrae Crouch, over 30 years ago, wrote a song that I have loved ever since the first time I heard it. Below are the words to that song. I was still a teenager when I first heard it, and I didn't have any idea of what my future would be. Now, looking back, how could any other song lyrics fit so well?

I've had many tears and sorrows
I've had questions for tomorrow
Ther've been times I didn't know right from wrong
But in every situation God gave blessed consolation
That my trials come to only make me strong
Oh I've been to a lot of places
And I've seen a millions of faces
But there are times I still fail all alone
He knows lonely hours
Those precious lonely hours
Jesus let me know I was His own

Chorus
Through it all, through it all
I've learned to trust in Jesus
I've learned to trust in God
Through it all, through it all
I've learned to depend upon His word

I thank God for the mountains
I thank Him for the valleys
And I thank Him for the storms He brought me through
For if I'd never had any problems
'cause I won't know that He could solve them
I'd never know what faith in God's word could do

Chorus