This is going to be a rough (prob a few or many gram errors) but I am writing this on a whim and quickly with babies in tow! I was making eggs for the kids this morning and thinking about ANOTHER miracle we received yesterday. I couldn't help but want to share with everyone: the Adoption Strong website with the many parents who might be facing special {medical} needs. Then I thought of the many people who may be facing financial stresses because life consist of them! Financials in the past was usually a place of surrender that God brought us too when He wanted to draw Ryan and I in closely! We have walked this path many times over the last couple years that I can honestly say, we haven't even worried about these medical bills we just KNEW some way or another Jesus was going to use this in building our story and our faith! SURRENDER=INCREASED FAITH! When I believe He is good, when I believe He can, when I exercise that belief with trusting Him, and when I follow through by obeying what He is telling me to do...oh my gosh I can't even begin to tell you how many amazing miracles Ryan and I have experienced through it! I want to scream each one from the mountain top! I love sharing Isaiah's many miracles because it is a testimony of how when God calls us to something it is in HIS HANDS. I always hope it encourages someone in a hard place relying on a miracle!!!
STORY: So we went to the hospital in Columbus January for a variety of testing and things we needed to check on Isaiah for after returning from China. It was three days of testings and all sorts. The medical bills piled up. We have to go back again in August too so there will be even more expenses then. With our finances being tighter than normal due to many factors from starting a business, to having 3 children, to have home needs, you know...the list goes on! It can always be something. However, the great thing is, it's been used as a process of building complete trust for Ryan and I in our faith. Those stepping stones that seemed worrisome at the moment each has proven to be a beautiful gift that has helped us grow.
So back to the story, the medical bills piled up and the hospital is a great one, they have an amazing program that works with your insurance company to help get the most coverage as possible and then they even offer some assistance and generous leverage in areas for the bills. I can't say enough about this hospital and the people. We qualified for a few things and have been waiting for a response over the last 8 months. Ryan and I have faithfully prayed over it and have felt an extreme peace that God is our provider, it is all His anyway right? So in the mail yesterday it came...the letter. I opened it knowing no matter what the numbers reflect, He will provide. He chose precious Isaiah for our family and He loves Isaiah and has already shown us He is taking care of every detail for him as long as we walk faithfully (2 Cor 5:7 We walk by faith not by sight).
And there it was - NO WAY!!!! NO WAY REALLY??? Is this happening? Oh my gosh it is! It just did! How did that happen? It happened! THANK YOU JESUS! THANK YOU! I'm humbled at how you go above our prayers every time because you're so loving! AND AMAZING! THANK YOU! Yep that's what I was saying over and over!
I encourage you today to BELIEVE He can. If you need prayers I am happy to pray with or for you! Ryan and I are no different than any other husband and wife who may be walking through a trial! I believe wholeheartedly that financials are the easiest and quickest way to being humbled and trusting God 110%. It is there we seek harder than ever to hear Him (Proverbs 3:5-6 says He will instruct us in which path to take). And as we trust, He guides, as He guides, we experience peace, when we have peace we reflect Him in our lives/hearts...as the light for the world to see God and how amazing He is!!!
GREAT STORY ON BELIEF/TRUST
An Acrobat, A Wheelbarrow, and a Challenge of Faith
Can you imagine a tightrope stretched over a quarter of a mile and spanning the breadth of Niagara Falls? The thundering sound of the pounding water drowning out all other sounds as you watch a man step onto the rope and walk across!
This stunning feat made Charles Blondin famous in the summer of 1859. He walked 160 feet above the falls several times back and forth between Canada and the United States as huge crowds on both sides looked on with shock and awe. Once he crossed in a sack, once on stilts, another time on a bicycle, and once he even carried a stove and cooked an omelet!
On July 15, Blondin walked backward across the tightrope to Canada and returned pushing a wheelbarrow.
The Blondin story is told that it was after pushing a wheelbarrow across while blindfolded that Blondin asked for some audience participation. The crowds had watched and "Ooooohed" and "Aaaaahed!" He had proven that he could do it; of that, there was no doubt. But now he was asking for a volunteer to get into the wheelbarrow and take a ride across the Falls with him!
It is said that he asked his audience, "Do you believe I can carry a person across in this wheelbarrow?" Of course the crowd shouted that yes, they believed!
It was then that Blondin posed the question - “Who will get in the wheelbarrow?'
Of course…none did.
[from Kenneth Baa’s book] Tens of thousands believed but no one trusted. Belief and trust are two different things. It occurred to me, though, that t here’s something wrong with this illustration. Why would anyone get in the wheelbarrow? Why would anyone do such dopey thing? There would have to be a compelling reason. So try this: imagine there was a thick forest behind the spectators and that suddenly the forest caught fire. There was no way of escape. Now things are about to get interesting., and suddenly all the rules change. Now there are only four options for the crowd:
Option #1: “I’m not here, and it’s not hot” . Deny your situation until you’re burned to a crisp.
Option #2: take your chances by plunging into the raging water below.
Option #3: try to go across the tightrope yourself.
Option #4: Get in the wheelbarrow!
Suddenly the offer to get in Blondin’s wheelbarrow looks very attractive. Furthermore it’s not the leap in the dark, it’s a step into the light and perhaps you’re only real hope. He’s already demonstrated that he could go to the other side and and come back. And so has Jesus. His crucifixion and resurrection was his going to the other side and back, his demonstrable evidence that He is who He claims to be. Entrusting my life to Him, sitting in that wheelbarrow (so to speak) is not a bad choice, as would be ignoring or rejecting Jesus. With Jesus there are really only two options because ignoring him is just covert rejection. At the end of the day, you either trust Him or you don’t.
No comments:
Post a Comment