"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."
-Proverbs 3:5-6
This isn't more so my own experience, but the experience my husband and I had together this past week. It was thursday, and surprisingly his boss gave him the day off, which never happens. But it was nice to have him home for the day. Anyway, my husband had to run to the store to grab a few things for the house, and I had my ministry meeting around the same time. Time went by and my husband started calling me back to back. I didn't think it was anything serious, he was probably calling to see what snack I wanted after dinner, so I didn't answer and continued on with my meeting. About forty minutes go by, I hear the car door slam and I knew it was my hubby getting back. As he walked in the door I could tell by the expression on his face that spmething was wrong. When he left he was full of smiles, but he didn't return the same way. He set the bags down and sighed,
"Babe, is there anyway you can hang up on your meeting so I can talk to you about something." He said.
I immediatley hung up. I couldn't help but to feel anxious, I thought he was going to tell me something awful happened to one of our family members so a part of me was bracing for impact. I asked him what's going on and he told me his job got shut down because his boss wasn't paying taxes. Now anyone that knows my husband personally, knows how much of a hard worker he is, and how much it means to him to be able to work and take care of his family, so this was crushing news for him. I could see it written all over his face that he felt defeated. But, although he was feeling how he was feeling, he was more worried about the thirteen other families that would be affected by this and he got emotional. My husband has worked at this job for some years now, and to be honest with you, it was the most toxic enviroment for him to be working in. The boss wasn't a nice person, he beat his employees down with his words, had never tried to understand, nor did he care. My husbands checks would bounce, his hours would get cut, and he worked full-time, over-time every week. Whenever they needed him he was always there in a jiffy. He has missed many milestones with our children, and really never had the time to spend with us the way he wanted, but he still cherished the little bit of time he did get.
Well, now that I have given you some background, let me get to what transpired after that. The rest of the day my husband was super anxious and on edge. I could tell he was stressed because he couldn't sit still, and was looking through our storage closet for things to sell so we could make rent which was just a few days away. He was a tad moody, but understandly so considering the circumstances, so none of us took it personally. As I was getting the baby ready for bed, my husband came upstairs and started to talk to me. I could feel his anxiety, and he just kept saying sorry as if all of this was his fault. I reminded him it wasn't and that he shouldn't blame himself for what his boss did. I told him that we should pray about it, just give it to God so he can work it all out. We prayed together, we brought it to our Father and left it there. Than we reminded each other of all the times God has got us through something and how he has brought us this far. That brought a sense of peace, although we couldn't help but to still feel a bit anxious of the unknown that lies ahead. My husband ended up staying up late applying for jobs, he than got up early in the morning to continue his job search so he probably got about four hours of sleep tops. When the baby and I woke up, I noticed a shift in his mood, he wasn't as anxious and seemed to be more positive. He was excited to tell me he got an interview for Saturday and that he was excited and happy about it. He would be working less hours, but making five dollars more than what he was, doing the same thing he was doing at his last job, he will also have benefits, and days off.
As he is telling me all this, I couldn't help but to think to myself, God heard our prayers. I was in awe, and dazed at just how fast He will do things sometimes. I mean He has answered my prayers quickly before, but I guess I just become so in awe every time He does it, because He doesn't have to. God doesn't have to do anything for any of us, but He still does, and He does it on a daily basis. I told my husband that God is working it all out for the good, and he said.
"Oh I know, God's got me."
My husband ended up getting the job and was able to start the next day. When he came home he was anxious because it was a new environment that would take some getting used to, but in a good way. His new boss is straight forward, has a sense of humor, and values his employees. All of his co-workers are friendly and welcoming, and he is aloud to eat there, without having to pay full-price for the food. The anxiousness he was feeling, was caused by his old job. He was treated so poorly that once he experienced a positive environment, with a boss who sees his value, it was a shock to his system. It broke my heart. It was almost as if he was so used to being treated poorly that he just got used to it, and that is just so heartbreaking because he didn't know how to process what being treated right by a boss felt like. But we prayed again, and I tried my best to encourage him, but I knew in my heart God was going to work it all out. Yesterday was his third day working there, I woke up to a text from him saying,
"I feel so good today, I can't even explain it."
"That's good babe, that's God. He's giving you His peace and His love and His strength." I responded.
"I know it's Him, but I just can't explain it, it's crazy. Also I read Joshua 1:1-9 and it gave me great comfort." He replied.
I don't even think thankful would be the best word to use to explain how grateful we are for what God has done. It makes me emotional as I sit here and think about everything He has done for us and continues to do for us. God is so good! And He works everything out for the good, but we need to trust Him. Trust that He has a plan and a purpose for our lives. Trust that He can see our future, and that only He is in control. He heard our prayer, although our trust in Him was weak, He still took what little trust we had in Him and used it for the good. He came through and showed us again, that if there is anyone that we can trust with everything, it is Him.
Now my husband will be able to spend more time with his family, he gets to come home in a good mood from working with positive people, and he is making more money so he is able to provide even more for his family. We have truly been blessed in more ways than one by the grace of God, and it's little harships like this that God shows His true glory and love for us. So today, I want you to think back to a hardship you've had in the past, did you pray? Did you give it to God? Did you trust Him to get you through it? Did He? If so, thank Him today, thank Him for His wonderfull and loving grace and blessing He bestowed upon you. If your going through a hardship right now, pray. Go before the throne of our Father and be open and honest with Him about it. Don't turn inwards, don't turn to the world. Turn to Him and ask for His help, He would love to help you. Don't ever get discouraged my dear brother or Sister in Christ, for God is good and more than willing to answer our prayers if they align with His will for our lives. Don't ever lose hope. And allow that/this experience to be a reminder for when the next hardship that comes your way, and trust in the one who loves you the most. God.
-Blessings
Chelsey
"After the death of Moses the Lord’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant. He said, 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them. 3 I promise you what I promised Moses: ‘Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you— 4 from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea[a] in the west, including all the land of the Hittites.’ 5 No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.
6 “Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. 8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. 9 This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” -Joshua 1:1-9
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