Have you ever prayed for deliverance then didn’t trust the outcome? This is how I feel now. With a move on the horizon and a complete change in lifestyle, it’s almost as if there’s a silent “let the testing of faith begin.” Phone bills, planning, and a baby on the way before the move. If we were in this life on our own without God, there would be no reason to have hope, nothing to put our faith in. In this post, I want to open up about some recent struggles and how God is further developing my husband’s and my own faith when everything else seems to be changing beneath our feet.
Enduring Faith Meaning Biblically: The Solid Rock of Our Foundation
It’s easy to say “have faith, everything will work out.” It’s a whole other ordeal to live this out. I think the common misconception of Christians is that they never go through trials and never carry burdens. But is this Biblical? If you guessed no, you’re absolutely right. There has never been a detail mentioned in the Bible that stated that the life of the Christian would be easy—burden free even. Sure, the burden of salvation is removed since Christ payed that ultimate price, but that doesn’t mean this life will be without heartache or trial. So, when life goes in a direction you didn’t see coming, what is left to say? The answer is check your foundation.
God says that for those that build the foundation upon Himself, it is like building a house upon solid rock. When the storms of life plunge down, the house with its foundation will stand. For a life that is built upon sand (uncertainty, this life only), it is like building a house without a foundation on sand that is pulled out by the storms.
The Wise and Foolish Builders
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash” (Matthew 7:24-27, NIV).
Trials That Produce Endurance Part 1: The Wreck
Let’s rewind roughly a year to two years go. My husband and I were living in an apartment. The first year was relatively quiet, but the second year we encountered a lot of issues with the neighbors and had to end our renting contract. Not only did this happen, but the first year we were there, we were in debt. I won’t say how much, (it was way below the average debt for the common American) but it was enough to cause us hardship. It took several months of praying and sacrificing things we wanted to do to get out of debt.
When we prayed, interesting things happened. I was still active duty at this time and was preparing to go see my husband who was stationed in Arizona at the time. I had to do a PT (physical training) test that’s done twice a year, once in the spring and again in the fall. I had gone on base and was about to pull into the gym where the test was being conducted due to weather concerns when I got into an accident. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a truck coming straight at me and I couldn’t get out of the way quick enough. The truck hit me with enough force to slide both of us onto the other side of the road. My car was totaled and I had whiplash. Three Marines saw the crash and came running over to both of our cars. They asked if we were okay and said my car was smoking and helped me out of the car.
Base police had to be called since the accident happened on base and the person who totaled my car and I exchanged insurance information and I had to wait to get my car towed. During this time, I had to call one of my superiors to let him know what happened and he sent two other superiors to help get my things from the car and give me a lift to the clinic since that’s where I worked. I was then sent to talk to one of the nurses who told me to go to the ER to get cleared since Tricare would cover it since I was involved in a crash. Fast forward a few days. I was cleared to go on leave after the hospital cleared me. I was taking calls for a few days up until my leave from my insurance company. It just seemed like the process was dragging on and on. I finally boarded the plane and was on my way to see my husband for a few weeks.
I was informed by my insurance company that the car would be inspected and appraised. This concerned me a little since I still owed payments on the car and had no clue what they would appraise the vehicle at but it had been in almost new condition up until the wreck. My husband assured me that God would take care of things and to have faith in His ability. A few days go by and I got a relieving phone call. Not only was my appraisal value great, but it covered the entire cost of the loan. No more payments needed. This was a weight lifted off of us since the car (even though it could be afforded) played a part into our debt. God allowed this to happen to free us financially. What looked like a mess at the time turned into a huge blessing. God eventually made a car available in the near future that was more in budget (and we still have this car today.) God eventually provided a way out of our apartment situation since tension was rising with our neighbors conducting illegal activity. This didn’t happen until almost a year later when my husband was able to get collocated after being sent on deployment.
Trials That Produce Endurance Part 2: Into the Fire
In a Christian’s life, there are moments of peace and moments of testing (some lighter than others). For My husband and I, the next year after we got out of our apartment situation was filled with both. I was out of the military by this time. God was graceful to us and provided a safe house on base where we got some BAH (basic housing allowance) back a month and were able to get back the money that we had to pay to get out of our apartment renting contract. The first few months of peace turned into months of testing as my husband was sent on his second deployment to another hot zone. Though this deployment was not nearly as long as his first deployment, any separation from your spouse is never easy. There’s a lot of sacrifices made and time of adjustment. On this deployment much like his first, my husband’s command became very divisive and threats were being made to his base by enemy countries. God still protected him and allowed his safe return home.
As I had transitioned out of the military, I had put in resumés to almost every hospital and clinic in our state around where we lived I possibly could have. Not a single one called me back. My VA package, however, was approved and God provided for us even though I wasn’t working. We started praying harder to see where He was leading next. After a few weeks, my husband and I found we would be having a child. A few months later, my husband is now in his window to separate from the military and started applying for jobs. The jobs fell through, but He was offered a job in his step fathers company that he would be well off in and both him and our child would be completely paid for medically due to his Native American lineage. Though this was relieving news, it required and is still requiring sacrifice on our part. God is moving us towards a new horizon but we had to lose some spiritual weight in the process. Here’s s what I mean. We had Tricare bills not being sent to Tricare since the first hospital we were attending did not want to uphold their end of duties but is now in the process of being managed.
For starters, money was tight again. God still provided for us, but we had to do more reassessing. during the time when none of the clinics responded back about my resumés God started directing me more towards blogging. It was an idea at first about two years ago but we weren’t in the right position financially to start actually stepping onto that platform. After a few weeks of praying to know for sure if this was God’s will, Blissful Faith was created and all of the company’s paperwork was approved. 7 months have been rigorously dedicated to building the platform and making products to reach others with the Gospel and God’s hands have been on it every step of the way even funding wise. But with moments of peace, come moments of testing.
The next time of testing for us is actually still on going currently. We had to switch phone carriers due to budget and our upcoming move. This made sense in the moment and was easy enough . . . Until we got the final bill from our old phone carrier. What we didn’t know is that when you port your number to another carrier, your previous carrier charges you full price of all the lines on your account, on top of deactivation fees. Although we knew there would be deactivation fees, the full charge of the phones came close to $1,000 since we had upgraded both of our phones. When I saw the final bill, I had become angry. Why was this being allowed to happen?? I asked God “Haven’t we served you faithfully?” I felt taken advantage of and lied to by the phone company, but I was missing the point. We had prayed God direct us financially and help remove burdens that would be weighing down on us. He was answering that prayer, but I was being too stubborn to realize it.
When the bill was paid off, we no longer owed money for the phones. We only had to pay to keep the line active on the new carrier which would be significantly less a month. This was a blessing, but I chose to see it as a curse. When it comes to God and His direction, much too often our own sin and perspective gets in the way of our sight and in the process we have little faith. It is only through trials that our faith can become bulletproof. After all, the true value of armor doesn’t amount to much in peace, but in war.
Even though this time of testing for us is still ongoing, it is very possible to be handed a series of tests. One of these for me and the business is occurring right now and it came in the form of these riots and the Coronavirus, in reverse order. God provided with the stimulus package to help fund the small business expenses. For the riots, God was allowing me to be tested to learn to stand more firmly for Him even though the world around me had violently rejected Him and continues to spiral more into deeper depravity. It was almost as if He was saying “You say you stand for Me, but will you be willing to stand against the evils of this world when it could mean losing everything?” Shortly after this, several businesses had come out that they had sided with the riots and were even funding them. I could either stay with them, or uphold God’s values.
After praying. I ended my contract with a business and canceled my involvement in their affiliate program. This could have lasting effects, but I choose to stand with God and be judged by the world than to stand with the world and be disciplined by God. I encourage other Christians to do the same. Stand firm in your faith and do not be shaken.
Enduring Faith Meaning Biblically: Saving Faith
With chaos erupting all around us, God has called Christians to remain strong and trust in Him. We are not without trials, but the trials are no match for an all powerful and almighty God. We need to save faith, stand firm in what we know. Let Elijah be an example of standing firm in the faith and pursuing God even when He had everything to lose by not siding with the culture. God is still on the throne.
“The coronavirus, therefore, does not point to unholiness or unrighteousness or lack of goodness in God. Our Rock, in these troubled days, is not unrighteous. He is not unholy. ‘There is none holy like the LORD . . . ; there is no rock like our God’ (1 Sam. 2:2). Our Rock is not a mirage.” Piper, John. Coronavirus and Christ. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Publishing Group, 2020. Page 36. Print.
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Human Trafficking is Today’s Slavery
The numbers of the victims of human trafficking and the stories behind the numbers are why Blissful Faith is partnering with nonprofit organizations to help fund rescues and recovery programs for those entrapped in bondage. Each number is a person. You can be the one to help make a difference by purchasing a shirt (coming soon to the blog in a few weeks) or by ordering a downloadable product currently in the store, in which proceeds will go to nonprofits that seek to give a voice to the voiceless. See more on human trafficking from my previous articles below:
The Price of Freedom
Knowing Freedom
The Fight to Preserve Freedom
Blissful Faith started as a lifestyle and branched into a blog to help others hear about Jesus Christ and how they too can develop a blissful faith through knowing God. This blog’s purpose is to be an evangelical outreach to further the kingdom of Christ. Furthering the kingdom means stretching outside of the comfort zone, comprehending and working towards meeting the needs of others. Putting faith to action keeps it from becoming stagnant.
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