Remember how a few weeks ago I said I was going through a lot of emotional turmoil? You know how they say it’s darkest before dawn? I know the devil does not know the future… but I think he’s pretty good at reading signs and listening in on human’s conversations. I think he likes to hit us hard when God’s getting ready to do big things, because he knows that, if he can only get us yanked far enough into our troubles and our circumstances and ourselves, then maybe he can get us to throw a monkey wrench into God’s plans. Or maybe he just is hoping to get us to surrender as much joy as possible before the big events.
God’s timing is perfect, though… and when we trust His timing, we are better able to enjoy it.
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Fifteen years ago or so, a good friend of ours walked away from God. It hit my husband hard, and ever since, he has prayed for this man… perhaps because the whole thing still troubled him. We lost track of him completely with over a thousand miles separating us… and still my husband prayed for this man.
A few years ago, my husband added to that prayer… that whenever this prayer was answered, God would somehow let him know. He told God he needed to know when this friend came back.
And he continued praying.
A week and a half ago, he got a call. Someone had found this old friend on Facebook, gotten in touch, and they had spoken on the phone. The man’s life has been completely transformed – beyond what it ever was, even before he walked away from God.
It had happened a couple of years earlier. You may be tempted to wonder why God had not gotten word to my husband a few years ago. Not me, though. I know that if he had found out the month or so after it had happened, he would have been wondering if it would “stick.” If it was one of those wonderful, emotional fleeting moments that change nothing or the real thing. God took care of that. He let enough time pass that there is no doubts about it… this man’s life was transformed.
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Years and years ago, my husband began wanting a better job. Not necessarily one that paid better, but one where they treated their employees better. When we moved from Florida to Ohio and he transferred, he hoped that this was going to be better. Instead, things kept going downhill in a slow decline with the company.
I have prayed soooo many times for a new job for my husband, but due to a number of factors that are hard to sum up, my husband has truly felt trapped… unable to provide for his family if he has to start an entirely new career, and unable to find anyone needing his skills outside of the company he’s in.
Over and over, he’s asked how he will ever get out. Over and over again, I have assured him that God has something planned for the perfect time… that I cannot fathom what it might be, but God can do anything. My husband could not possibly perform that job until he retires, and God has promised to provide. Thus something, some day would come along! It had to. There was no other possibility.
That day came this month as well. And as the details unfold, it is looking so much better even than we were asking for, on so many levels. But then, what else should we expect from the God who is able to do more than we could ask or think?
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I have nothing more profound to share, but I want to encourage you to keep waiting and trusting! Even if it’s been 15 years since you began.