He knows the end from the beginning
If three months ago, I could have mapped out what I would have thought would be good for us for the following few months, I would have chosen a lot different than God did. I wouldn't have chosen to be so sick and incapable of doing much besides the most basic of basics for my family (though I would have gladly chosen to be pregnant - I would have chosen an easy pregnancy, if such a thing existed!). I wouldn't have chosen that the election would go as it did leaving my husband without a job come January 8. I wouldn't have chosen for us to search and search and submit resume after resume and pray and pray and be less than 4 weeks away from his last day with still no concrete job possibilities on the horizon. I wouldn't have chosen to be living day-to-day not knowing where we'll be in a few weeks, when we might be moving, or even a remote idea of where we'll be moving, let alone the mind-baffling real probability that we'll be packing up and moving everything sometime very soon, with maybe only a few week's notice, when I'm in my current constantly-sick condition.
No, I wouldn't have chosen any of this. And, you know what? I would have missed out on so much. So many opportunities to grow in faith, in patience, in my trust for the Lord. So many precious times of prayer and crying out to the Lord as a family. So many sweet times of fellowship in the early morning hours reading through the Psalms and beseeching the Lord for strength in my weakness, for encouragement, for grace. So many lessons in my lack of faith, my lack of resting in the Lord. So many times to learn to take one hour at a time, trusting God for the rest.
So many things - I would have missed them all if I were in charge of my life. I'm so thankful that God is the One Who has pre-ordained my steps. "He goeth before." He knows the end from the beginning. He knows what our future holds and we entrust it into His Almighty hands.
No, I wouldn't have chosen any of this. And, you know what? I would have missed out on so much. So many opportunities to grow in faith, in patience, in my trust for the Lord. So many precious times of prayer and crying out to the Lord as a family. So many sweet times of fellowship in the early morning hours reading through the Psalms and beseeching the Lord for strength in my weakness, for encouragement, for grace. So many lessons in my lack of faith, my lack of resting in the Lord. So many times to learn to take one hour at a time, trusting God for the rest.
So many things - I would have missed them all if I were in charge of my life. I'm so thankful that God is the One Who has pre-ordained my steps. "He goeth before." He knows the end from the beginning. He knows what our future holds and we entrust it into His Almighty hands.
posted by Crystal Paine at 6:00 AM
20 Comments:
Wow, that really inspired me. Had I have taken control of 2006, I think I would have messed it all up and would probably be miserable...LOL. Thank God we look and trust Him for our direction and next step in life.
I count it a true blessing when God doesn't answer prayers right away. As humans we are so impatient and we want answers and things done right away. However, I believe, as God ponders on how to best answer our prayer, that's when we draw so much closer to Him, when our hearts are most renewed. ;-)
Don't give up praying Crystal, God already has the answer, He is just waiting for the right time to give it to you and Jesse.
God Bless You!
Is your husband able to collect unemployment insurance? I know that would help.
Good to remember who is in control!Thanks for todays lesson.
Mine would read if I had known after packing up our family from the place that we lived for 6.5 years that 3 months later my husband would be laid off from the job that we moved for I never ever would have moved.Still not sure why we live in Wake Forest but God allowed us to move here away from Dublin,Ohio.
Hi, Anonymous! My husband and I are not familiar with the ternm "unemployment insurance" but from a Google search it appeared to be some type of government assistance. We do not personally believe that government welfare is a good thing (I know this is a hot topic and one we've touched on here before at length!), therefore, we could not, in good conscience, collect handouts from the government. God has been faithful to provide for us in the past, without government assistance, and I know He will be faithful in the future. However, we don't expect that Jesse will be unemployed for long, if at all. There are many possibilities out there, we've just been waiting for something to become concrete and that has taken a lot longer than we expected. God's timing is always perfect. If He does see fit for Jesse to be unemployed for awhile, we will continue to have health insurance for quite some time (which is a great blessing!) and we also have lots of creative ideas for earning money while continuing to look for a job. :)
If you were referring to something else with unemployment insurance, my apologies for not being familiar with the term! :)
You're so right to be faithful. I'm sure you don't need that underlining, but we too would not have chosen our circumstances, and would have missed out on many, many blessings if we'd have been in charge.
Praise God, He is utterly trustworthy.
Praise God for your faithfulness and that His work in your life is shared to encourage all.
I am praying for you in your pregnancy. I know that God is building you for great things. He must have something very special in store for you and your family.
We recently moved with my husband's job. And then he was laid off. I wasn't sure why we moved, but then God showed us a beautiful new church family. We never know His plan...but we do know that His plan is perfect.
I too am so thankful the Lord was in charge of my life this last year. So many wonderful things have happened that would not have, if I tried to jump in a take control. It is sometimes very tough to resist the urge to jump in and "help God". He always knows what is best for us. It isn't always OUR timing or the way we would've preferred, but hindsight shows His handiwork in our lives.
God Bless,
Trixie
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
Crystal, I'm not sure if unemployment benefits would be what you consider the same as government welfare(we considered that we paid tax in our government system similar to the tithe of the O.T. theocratic government that provided for the priesthood and general welfare of people yet the employment benefits were a tad bit different...discussing those aspects isn't where this post is going). The tax for insurance coverage, I "think", is always paid by the employer according to state law and many offices help people find employment in their field through their computer search system...possibly even if they do not qualify for monetary benefits. Not sure about your husband's employer contributions or current circumstances being eligible, though. Maybe this will help better explain:
Kansas General Unemployment Benefits Information
Jesse may be able to find job availabilities through if he wants to be involved in government:
Job-Hunt.org
Hubby was provided employer severance pay and resume and interview assistance as the corporation he had worked for was relocating to Mexico(God actually orchestrated that to be a quite nice amount for his short years with the company; our understanding that it was more than others with many more years of service); he posted the resume on many a site online without concern with keeping track of the posting. The job he now has that initially began as a contract job( hubby was directed to a posting on headhunters.com): he called the number provided by the employment agency, emailed the resume, had an interview scheduled and was on the job a few days later in another state. Even the circumstances for finding an apartment very low priced was His doing.).
He provided a Christian family right next door and a Christian supervisor on the job along with an awesome relocation package(the movers were Christians that understood my not being well, actually flat on my back some days and barely functioning on my feet on others...they even helped us unpack some boxes on their own time! We found boys clothes that they accepted for ministry at their fellowship to the needy. The realtor we had was so good to me with my health and to us with hubby in one state and the rest of us elsewhere.). Our house was sold through a Christian realtor to a precious Christian lady(we made sure to obey in providing for her as a widow by letting God bless her with renovations she couldn't believe were being done for her).
There is much growing in the valley experiences(to one they are valley but to others they are mountaintop experiences in Christ!) is really putting feet under prayers, doing what God showed him to do, and letting Him work out the location and rest of the details. Our place was to be content and let our boasting be in the Lord's face, heart, and hand in the "one day at a time" thoughts regardless of the circumstances, unemployed or employed. He'll work all things out for you all as you both trust Him...just perfectly for His glory and your good.
c., God has you and your family in the grip of His grace and mercy and in our thoughts and prayers. Many hugs.
This is such a wonderful post! Having had my prayers answered for a new job for me, Aaron and I have been talking so much about how the Lord has been there through our first 6 months of marriage, and how we wouldn't trade the experiences we've had for ANYTHING.
I'd have never met all you dear ladies! I wouldn't have known that I can make my own laundry soap, my own multipurpose cleaner, I would have despaired at a $150 food budget, and I'd still turn my nose up at thrift shops (Not anymore! I've gotten so much from them, and I've given a lot too!).
I prayed that Aaron would strengthen his faith in the Lord, that questions he pondered would be answered, and that he would become the man that God wants him to be....with my being able to be home a bit more, I believe that the Lord enabled me to be on my knees for Aaron more.
All of our experiences make me so thankful....and even more thankful that the Lord has blessed me with a job that still allows me to be home, to keep my home, but also help pay off our debts and provide for our family. :)
I've had Jeremiah 33:3 on my mind the last few weeks for us, and for you, Crystal....I know you're calling to Him...He'll answer when you all are ready. :)
We are having to trust God a lot this year as well. We up and moved our family across country to a place where we know no one. We felt led here and it all happened so smoothly. However, now dh's job isn't going so well. and honestly I don't know if we will be here next year. It is a very stressful situation. It wiped us out financially and probably emotionally to move like this. I can hardly bear the thought of having to up and move again. And where would we move? I have no idea. We just have to trust in God that he knows what is best for us. AND all of this stuff has brought us closer as a family and has brought us all closer to God. I think it is all worth it in the end.
Crystal,
You will be in my heart and prayers. Just having had surgery, I selfishly thought I was the only one having a rough go of it! Thank you for sharing your heart!
Chrystal, that is so wonderful :) Also, dear, have you been drinking lots of water? I know that I stay really sick when I'm pregnant because I don't drink enough. We learnt with this pregnancy though, I was taken to the hospital at 6 weeks extremely dehydrated already. Imagine what I had been like the other one where I didn't go... having no idea why I was still s sick 6 months in. (We put it down to having twins) This time, 3litres of fluid in an hour with them contemplating a fourth later I was feeling so much better! And I live in the tropics where you drink all the time, so I can just imagine how you must be where it is chilly... you probabbly don't even think you're thirsty. Just a thought, anyway. I hope you feel better soon.
"A man reaps what He sows" Galatians 6:7b.
"Whoever sows generously will also reap genorously" 2Cor. 9:6b
I'm glad that right now your sowing faith and I know that you will reap so many rewards for doing this.
Once I had to do an impromptu speech on a quote by some famous man that went something like this: "Experience is a hard thing: it gives the test first and then the lesson." And I talked about how God uses trials to mold charater. You are the clay and He is the Potter.
Glad to hear that your keeping your chin up =) as well as your trust in Him.
"For my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus"
Phillipians 4:19
Crystal,
Keep your chin up. Four years ago I was eight months pregnant and our family had just moved cross-country for my husband's job. The company went into bankruptcy, and everyone at the corporate headquarters was laid off. My husband was offered another position at a reduced salary in another state. We moved again, and finally found a place to live 10 days before the baby was born. When the baby was 6 weeks old, the company shut down completely. My husband found himself laid off with one day's notice in a strange town with no job prospects. Sounds pretty scary, doesn't it? I worried myself sick over our situation. The wonderful thing is that my husband was able to find another job in our old hometown and we were able to move back into the same house we had left behind. It took several years to become financially stable again, but I can truly say that our family is stronger now than before. I also learned that I needed to keep faith in God's grace no matter the circumstances. All my worries didn't solve our problems, God did. God Bless you and good luck. You will get through this!
So sorry to hear of your troubles of recent...hang in there. Often in these times, GOD sends some times of serendipity that you could no way anticipate. Later, looking back this time could well be one of very great blessing as well.
I sympathize with the morning sickness. I had it 9 months with my third and last child. But OH SO glad...she has been SO WORTH IT. The joys she has given us have far surpassed those from her older siblings and with whom illness was not such a problem. Seems one doc told me that having that much morning sickness meant a lack of a B vitamin...not sure which one. Wish he had been my doc then...I would have tried something natural. My doc then wanted to give me the latest morning sickness drug. Supposedly very safe. I refused. When I was almost to the end of the pregnancy, the drug was removed and never again on the market due to all the dangerous side effects! Thank you LORD for making me refuse that drug!!
This is so true! There have been so many times in my life that I thought, "Why is this happening?", and then later I realize that it was for the best. What seemed like a total disaster at the time brought huge blessings later. Since we are human, we want everything to fall into neat little pieces as life goes along, but only the Creator knows ALL of our days. We may not even know until years later why something happened in our lives, but then we look back and see that God was in control all along. At least, I can personally say this has happened to me! Valerie
Some other good government jobs can be found at www.USAjobs.gov just punch in code 0905 for lawyer under keyword. Check frequently as they update every few days. We will pray for you.
Amen, Crystal!
Post a Comment
<< Home