Trust and Obedience: A Season of Building.

Trust...
  Confident expectation of something; hope.
  One upon which a person relies: God is my trust.
  To have trust or confidence in; rely or depend on.
  ...to believe.

About three years ago I entered into a season that I am referring to as the building season.  In which God has taken me in as a formless lump or pile of clay, slowly building me up into a vessel to be used as He has designed.  When this whole building process began I would say to people, "I'm just trusting in the Lord, that He will provide."  Partly (in the beginning) because I knew that's what I was supposed to say.  I thought if I said it enough times, people (including myself) would begin to believe me.  In the beginning  it was a molecule of  faith.

 Faith.
  A belief in or confident attitude toward God,
  involving commitment to His will in one's life.

I had to trust that, even though God was not providing our family with enough income to save our house from foreclosure, that He would provide what we needed and another plan.
A better plan.
This trust could not come whole heartedly by me saying it a thousand times but through prayer.  I had to trust that even though owning a house is the "american dream", it is not a God given right and He would provide a home to live in.

God asked us to lay down our house at his feet.

After months of trying to come up with an alternative plan, we began to believe that we didn't need a huge house full of possessions.
We began to lay it at His feet room by room.

Memory by memory.

Dream by dream.

Trust me I am no bohemian or minimalist or revolutionary on a public binge to rid everyone of their fortune.  I don't believe you need to where sackcloth and cut your hair and rub ash on your ears three times a day to be a true believer.  But previous to this building period I was drunk with success and progress and all the trappings that came along for the ride.
Alone and angry.
Buying and consuming to fill the whole in my life that could only be filled by Jesus.  God has since stripped these things away.  Pealing the layers back to find something worthwhile.


We had to trudge through pride, feelings of failure and confusion.  Maybe it was the act of walking and trudging with confidence that God would give my family a place to live, that fostered the faith that God was instilling in me.

Through prayer and obedience... faith was born.
Through providence, trust was born.
Asking God to give me more faith, not once but countless times.
Even when I was tired of hearing the asking.

Our God answered by using his children, stepping out in obedience.
In this season of building, we have received so many gifts and blessings.
Gifts of checks, gift cards and home supplies and a new home to live in.
Our God used his children as conduit to supply the needs of our family at that present time.  Giving more faith by showing in real terms that He was there, providing.  Even though I was tired of being the receiver.

Building trust.

I began to want to receive the builder more than the gifts.
More than a big house.
More than pride.
More than my own feeble plans.

God has provided me with hope.

Now, I can honestly say that I trust in God.
That He is providing, time and time again.
I can walk in confidence that He will provide for us if we can go to Him seeking faith.
Loving by obeying.

I believe we are being prepared to enter into a new season.
God has asked me to go in a direction.
A destination to be revealed later.
My foot is in the air stepping out in that direction.
Into another wilderness with eyes up... waiting for manna.




Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them."
John 14:23


  OBEY.
  In both the Old and New Testaments, the word obey is related to the idea of hearing.
  Obedience is a positive, active response to what a person hears. 
  Obedience was the basis for knowing God's blessing and favor.

  To submit to...
  To conform to...
  To comply with the wishes, instructions, and commands.