How many of you hear me when I say that focusing on our circumstances (either in the present or the future) can cause us to live in confusion, anxiety and even fear? Focusing on the things present on this earth can give us sleepless nights, headaches, and a whole other slew of physical problems (more on this later).
Well as for our family, Jeffrey did get accepted to his dream college (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University – ERAU) in Arizona (A Taste Of Divine Intervention?), so since it was now late February of Jeffrey’s senior year in high school, I found myself swimming in confusion about everything that we now needed to get done before he actually started attending in September.
Of course the more I thought about all those things, the more I found myself losing sleep and stressing out!
But then came 2 Corinthians 5:7 (NIV – emphasis mine): “… live by faith, not by sight.”
As I reflected on that Scripture, I was reminded of a conversation I’d had with a lady who owned a beautiful ranch called Healing Reins/Faith Run Farms. Healing Reins provided therapeutic therapy through their horses for people of all ages. Jeffrey had been involved with hippotherapy (horse-riding therapy) previously while still in the Seattle area (I’ll Take a Double Cheeseburger…), and we were excited to get him plugged back into that as he’d loved it so much.
In our conversation, the owner told me how they’d decided to name the ranch Faith Run Farms.
She said her and her husband had fallen in love with it when they first saw it, but it was something way beyond what they were able to afford. However as time went on, they both really kept feeling that the Lord wanted them to trust Him and move forward to buy it.
They took a giant leap of faith, and amazingly enough, things started falling into place that they’d never dreamed of! Now this ranch had become such a special blessing to so many people.
Wow! As I started thinking more about her testimony, I felt the Holy Spirit spurring me forward regarding the whole ERAU college thing. Did we truly believe our God was the miraculous God of the Bible or not? I felt in my heart confirmation that somehow He would provide for us all we needed.
The next day I had lunch with a dear friend – and we ended up in the restaurant for 4 hours! As I shared my thoughts, fears and confusion with her, she told me that she and her husband believed strongly that you must keep moving forward in what you believe God is telling you, until He Himself puts a stop to it.
My friend had been a Christian since she was a young girl (her dad was a pastor), and she said she’d seen so many Christians frightened to step out in faith. So instead they sit back waiting until God pushes them into something.
This was hitting home with me – I didn’t want to be that way, although I certainly had been guilty of the same many times in the past.
As we continued our conversation, she gave me a great example of just why we should keep moving forward.
She asked me how Gary and I would feel if we decided to hold back on Jeffrey’s dream college, and instead have him attend a local community college for a year or two. Would we always be asking the question: “I wonder what would’ve happened if we’d moved forward with the ERAU thing?”
Then she said, “Just think, if you decide not to keep moving forward trusting God with ERAU, you could be missing out on a great blessing!”
That pretty much got me right in the gut.
When I got home that evening I told Gary everything, and we both felt in our hearts we needed to keep forging ahead towards the mark of ERAU, trusting that God would provide. How everything was supposed to happen, we really had no idea.
So here we go! And through it all I found myself coming back to the words of Ephesians 3:20 (NLT), over and over again:
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work with us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
Do you believe that in your life, as well?
The God Of All Comfort 