I realized the other day that the selling of our home is much like FAITH and FISHING!
Very loosely, our realtor can be likened to our Father God…very loosely likened but I think you’ll get the gist. Our realtor is good, we trust him, our plans align with his and he is working on our behalf. That sounds like our Father doesn’t it!
I can’t see what he is doing day by day, I just have to trust his integrity, trust and believe that he is doing what he said he would and could do ~ sell our house. He knows our time frame and my job is to trust our realtor. Trust that he will accomplish the plan. That sounds a lot like faith!
We don’t have to second guess decisions we have made that have carried us to this point in time. We waited on the Lord so we would have total peace before Bruce chose his retirement day. We figured (he) figured out many scenarios regarding finances and life in general and came to a mutual agreement that September 1, 2015 would be his retirement day. We are on the ten week countdown. After thirty years with the same company, that isn’t much time…
The timing happens to coincide with these projects that are being planned for North East BC. (read post here where I share how I trusted in those plans) That coinciding is not an ‘accident’ because the Lord and Bruce and I are working and living cooperatively. Together, trying to mesh hearts and wills and lives.
God gives grace for those times we miss it, but this time of selling our home is not one of those times of ‘missing it’.
We have to trust God’s word of truth that a man plans his way but the Lord directs his step. Proverbs 16:9
When we apply that truth to our circumstance, when we rub it all over our days, the Lord truly can be the One in whom we have confidence.
Oh and fishing! How does our house selling relate to fishing? Well, we have a great home (the lure), we are in a great location (where the fish are biting), the lure has been let down into the water (when it was advertised for sale) and now we have to do what any good fisherman will do well. WAIT!
The Lord says, ‘Be still and know I am God. Be still in your waiting and have confidence in Me.’
When we took our grandson fishing a few years ago,
Bruce taught him how to tie the (hmm, I am content to take the readied line and drop it over the side of the boat, enjoy the sun, the sparkles on the water, the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves, spotting the eagles’ lookout) Bruce was teaching him how to prepare the line and how to count the lengths as he let his line down. Anyways, the point of this is that Jeremy would reel his line in every few minutes for one reason or another ‘just to check’.
He hadn’t matured to the point where he was able to trust that his Grandpa had taken us to the perfect spot, given him a proven lure and was operating the boat at optimum efficiency for catching fish!
When I tie these scenarios together, I come up with this:
I can trust the Lord my God. I can look back over forty years and remember many of the difficult circumstances and know that the Lord led me and navigated the way through the wilderness. He allured me with His love in the dry and barren places and made His sound known to me. I have seen His faithful provision time after time, always right on time. He has provided and blessed and stretched and taught me how to dig my roots deeper into the soil in His garden of grace and truth. He is not going to take His eyes off me now, nor will He stop thinking about me or cease in plans of goodness for a future filled with hope in His promises!
The Lord is my helper, I can and will trust and be confident in Him.
Can you think of areas in your life where you need to trust and just be confident in the Lord your God?
Linking up with:
Thankful Thursdays, Soul Survivor, #Thought Provoking Thursday, Grace & Truth
Yes, I sure can think of areas where I need to trust in God…. several actually~!
God bless you and Bruce…glad God is accompanying you through this waiting time 🙂
Jeannie, I love this: the Lord and Bruce and I are working and living cooperatively. That is how I want to live my life – cooperatively and hand-in-hand with my Savior! Beautiful post!
Thanks Ellen – it is a blessing to know that the Lord knows we each want Him to have an integral part of our lives…and He draws near and draws us with an everlasting love even closer to Himself.
That’s a great analogy! Selling a house is definitely like fishing. No wonder I don’t like fishing! I’m visiting you for the Women With Intention link-up.
Karen, I like fishing better! But I am learning how to trust steadfastly during this process and that is what is important!
Thanks for sharing! I’m glad I stopped by from the Women with Intention Link Up. Definitely food for thought. It’s good to know, unlike a realtor, that God’s plan is perfect and He is capable and powerful enough to execute it. We can trust that God is working on our behalf and He won’t make mistakes, He is in total control. Praying that your home sells soon! And that it’s smooth sailing from there!
Maria, I’m glad you stopped by too! Thanks for your prayers and I am thankful that we serve a God who is faithful, able and willing to do above and beyond all we can ask think or imagine. Stopping by your blog now.
What comfort there is in knowing he won’t leave us. He is with us. Just hearing you say that looking back all those years you have seen this, it is so encouraging. Thank you for the injection of courage. Cheering you on from the #RaRalinkup on Purposeful Faith.
Thanks Kelly, for the injection of encouragement! Thank you for the cheers and the linkup and for making this space available to give HIM glory and praise. Bless you.
God works in amazing ways. 18 months ago, we moved from the home we lived in for 27 years. We had a very tight time-line, but despite bumps in the road, everything needed worked perfectly for both our old and new home to close escrow on the same day, we moved, my husband did a few necessities for me to be comfortable in a new neighborhood while he left for Kenya on a mission trip exactly one week after we moved.
Now that is a pretty awesome testimony Debbie and a wonderful word of encouragement to me to ‘be still and know He is God and able and willing to help to the uttermost”. Your words are a gift of encouragement to me today! Bless you and thanks so much for stopping by!
Dear Jeannie,
I smiled through your post today, simply because before I read the post, my eyes caught your beautiful photo and bio line… I LOVED reading that. I had the chance to speak to some parents at a classical ed conference a few weeks ago and after being introduced I approached the podium and realized all I wanted them to remember about my “credentials to speak to them” was that I was just a girl who loved Jesus and out of that want to love on them. 🙂
Your analogy and lesson were timely and true. Thank you… Trusting the Lord, for me, right now is learning to trust in my surrendering and letting Him be fully God as Hebrews 11:6 reminds us to do.
Bless you!
Dawn
Dawn, such a sweet thing to say about my photo and bio line…but its true isn’t it! All that matters is that we love Jesus and reach out in love to others. I do like the name of your blog and it reminds that in our journey we sing of His grace. May you know His grace and sufficiency in its fullness. Thanks so much for coming by, I am glad my words were a blessing to your heart today as you too learn to trust Him fully in your surrendering. Yes Lord! Bless you!
Sometimes God keeps us waiting because He appreciates our trust.
David, that is such a neat thought – that He appreciates our trust. Not being a parent I don’t understand that part of what a parent feels when a child wants/needs something but I would sure be interested in hearing from other Dads and Moms about how they feel when the child trusts them! Thanks for such an interesting perspective!
Jeannie, I needed this today. Thank you for sharing it. I love the analogy and the lesson I learned. Thank you for linking up with Frog’s Lilypad’s Thankful Thursdays.
For me everyday seems to be like that trusting and testing my confidence, looking backwards and holding on to God’s word about my future.
Your posts are always so encouraging and as usual thank you.
Today I read this and I will share it with you:
Trusting God in hard times can certainly have its obstacles, but God’s Word encourages believers to persevere, and not to allow mental or physical weariness to prevail. Do not faint, do not lose heart, but, as Joshua 1:9 says, “Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
See the whole post here: http://www.sharefaith.com/guide/christian-principles/faith/ups-and-downs-of-christian-life.html
Bless you Ariella for giving me words today that I especially needed to hear. Thank you.