Homeless...But Not Hopeless
So we're officially homeless. The owners of the house we chose last weekend (the only decent option) decided they really didn't want to rent it after all, only sell it. Yeah, so thanks for #1 listing it as a rental, and #2 entertaining our offer & stringing us along for an entire week.
After a day full of deep breaths & choked-back tears, I have to go back to what I *know* - that God has a plan for us, and He has something better. Of course we have no clue what that could be right now, but He does, and that helps.
After focusing on that last BarlowGirl song so much, it just so happens that the next song on that same CD is just as perfectly apropos . Please click here or here to listen: "I Believe in Love"
How long will my prayers seem unanswered?
Is there still faith in me to reach the end?
I'm feeling doubt I'm losing faith
But giving up would cost me everything
So I'll stand in the pain and silence
And I'll speak to the dark night
I believe in the sun even when it's not shining
I believe in love even when I don't feel it
And I believe in God even when He is silent
And I, I believe
Though I can't see my story's ending
That doesn't mean the dark night has no end
It's only here that I find faith
And learn to trust the one who writes my days
So I'll stand in the pain and silence
And I'll speak to the dark night
I believe in the sun even when it's not shining
I believe in love even when I don't feel it
And I believe in God even when He is silent
And I, I believe
No dark can consume Light
No death greater than this life
We are not forgotten
Hope is found when we say
Even when He is silent
I believe in the sun even when it's not shining
I believe in love even when I don't feel it
And I believe in God even when He is silent
And I, I believe
Music speaks to me like nothing else...
My friends have also offered some good words. One shared a quote from "Ten Guidelines From God"
Once you've given your burdens to Me, quit trying to take them back. Trust in Me. Have the faith that I will take care of all your needs, your problems and your trials.I love the "quit trying to take them back" part! How often do we pray & ask God for help, but we still keep churning?
That goes along well with the notion I've personally been trying to implement through this: letting my soul be on vacation. When you have trials, do what you can, give the rest up to God, and let your soul go on vacay! God *wants* to sort our junk out for us, if we'll let Him & just rest. (NOT saying it's easy for us human control freaks, but I'm working on it!)
My friend Amy has been dealing with her own mountain of stress, and she shared this, which is also crazily befitting: Lamentations 3:19-26
19 The thought of my suffering and homelessness
is bitter beyond words.
20 I will never forget this awful time,
as I grieve over my loss.
21 Yet I still dare to hope
when I remember this:
22 The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
23 Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.
24 I say to myself, "The Lord is my inheritance;
therefore, I will hope in him!"
25 The Lord is good to those who depend on him,
to those who search for him.
26 So it is good to wait quietly
for salvation from the Lord.
She also has been focusing on this quote:
Mature faith does not live by answers to prayer, but by prayer.
~R.E.O. White
(Ouch! But, yeah...)
I subscribe to the 411God email devotional, and the last week has had some obvious-yet-opportune reminders, as well:
Philippians 4:13 is one of the most famous verses in the Bible. You know, it's the "I can do all things..." verse. It's a great verse, and the verses that comes just before are pretty sweet too.
Philippians 4:11-13
11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
Whatever your situation might be, Paul's words are true: With Christ in your life, you are never in need.
It's easy to feel stressed or worried. Maybe you're jobless, or grocery-less, or car-less. Whatever the situation, don't forget that God cares.
1 Peter 5:6-7
6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. 7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
Worry less and have less to worry about. That's the message here.
Ecclesiastes 11:5
5 Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother's womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.
Edited to add:
From my friend Whitney on FB:
"God's goal for our life is not necessarily peace, comfort, and prosperity. His goal is to shape us into Christ's likeness..." Paraphrase of Charles Stanley
After a day full of deep breaths & choked-back tears, I have to go back to what I *know* - that God has a plan for us, and He has something better. Of course we have no clue what that could be right now, but He does, and that helps.
After focusing on that last BarlowGirl song so much, it just so happens that the next song on that same CD is just as perfectly apropos . Please click here or here to listen: "I Believe in Love"
How long will my prayers seem unanswered?
Is there still faith in me to reach the end?
I'm feeling doubt I'm losing faith
But giving up would cost me everything
So I'll stand in the pain and silence
And I'll speak to the dark night
I believe in the sun even when it's not shining
I believe in love even when I don't feel it
And I believe in God even when He is silent
And I, I believe
Though I can't see my story's ending
That doesn't mean the dark night has no end
It's only here that I find faith
And learn to trust the one who writes my days
So I'll stand in the pain and silence
And I'll speak to the dark night
I believe in the sun even when it's not shining
I believe in love even when I don't feel it
And I believe in God even when He is silent
And I, I believe
No dark can consume Light
No death greater than this life
We are not forgotten
Hope is found when we say
Even when He is silent
I believe in the sun even when it's not shining
I believe in love even when I don't feel it
And I believe in God even when He is silent
And I, I believe
Music speaks to me like nothing else...
My friends have also offered some good words. One shared a quote from "Ten Guidelines From God"
Once you've given your burdens to Me, quit trying to take them back. Trust in Me. Have the faith that I will take care of all your needs, your problems and your trials.I love the "quit trying to take them back" part! How often do we pray & ask God for help, but we still keep churning?
That goes along well with the notion I've personally been trying to implement through this: letting my soul be on vacation. When you have trials, do what you can, give the rest up to God, and let your soul go on vacay! God *wants* to sort our junk out for us, if we'll let Him & just rest. (NOT saying it's easy for us human control freaks, but I'm working on it!)
My friend Amy has been dealing with her own mountain of stress, and she shared this, which is also crazily befitting: Lamentations 3:19-26
19 The thought of my suffering and homelessness
is bitter beyond words.
20 I will never forget this awful time,
as I grieve over my loss.
21 Yet I still dare to hope
when I remember this:
22 The faithful love of the Lord never ends!
His mercies never cease.
23 Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.
24 I say to myself, "The Lord is my inheritance;
therefore, I will hope in him!"
25 The Lord is good to those who depend on him,
to those who search for him.
26 So it is good to wait quietly
for salvation from the Lord.
She also has been focusing on this quote:
Mature faith does not live by answers to prayer, but by prayer.
~R.E.O. White
(Ouch! But, yeah...)
I subscribe to the 411God email devotional, and the last week has had some obvious-yet-opportune reminders, as well:
Philippians 4:13 is one of the most famous verses in the Bible. You know, it's the "I can do all things..." verse. It's a great verse, and the verses that comes just before are pretty sweet too.
Philippians 4:11-13
11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.
Whatever your situation might be, Paul's words are true: With Christ in your life, you are never in need.
It's easy to feel stressed or worried. Maybe you're jobless, or grocery-less, or car-less. Whatever the situation, don't forget that God cares.
1 Peter 5:6-7
6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. 7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
Worry less and have less to worry about. That's the message here.
Ecclesiastes 11:5
5 Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother's womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things.
Edited to add:
From my friend Whitney on FB:
"God's goal for our life is not necessarily peace, comfort, and prosperity. His goal is to shape us into Christ's likeness..." Paraphrase of Charles Stanley
it all seems bleak to us, doesn't it? the barlow girl song made me think of another song - look up the song from the musical "the lion king" -- its called "endless night". it has an incredible message and the music is pretty good too! "i know that the night will end and the sun will rise, and i'll hear your voice deep inside. i know that the night will end, that the clouds will clear..."
ReplyDeletei love you! we'll get through this together!
Oh, I looooove that! I have such a heart for musicals!!! :-)
ReplyDelete