God's Faithfulness on Display

Season 1 Episode 9 -- It is easy to say that we believe that God is faithful.  But sometimes in the midst of a challenging situation or season of life, it may be hard for us to recognize God's faithfulness in the moment.  The Bible, over and over again, challenges us to look back at our lives and remember.  Sometimes, it is only in hindsight that we recognize God's faithfulness to us.  In this episode, I remember one such occasion in my life, and what I learned.

"Reflect on This" is the podcast version of short email devotionals I send to my family and friends, where I am sharing the things I am learning about the ways and nature of God, through applying my study of the Scriptures to the world around me.
 
 You can find and subscribe to "Reflect on This" on your favorite podcast platforms, such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and many others, as well as on YouTube, by simply searching on “Johnny Hinshaw” (include the quote marks in your search).  You can also find a transcript of the podcast (if you prefer to read rather than listen) at:  https://www.buzzsprout.com/2271115

 If you like the podcast, I encourage you to subscribe and leave a favorable review, because it helps others to find the podcast more easily (by raising the podcast in search results).

Music credits:

Walk Around by Roa | https://soundcloud.com/roa_music1031/

Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/

Creative Commons CC BY 3.0

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Transcript

I know of many instances of God’s faithfulness in my life, and I am sure there are many others that I will discover when I am with the Lord and have that added perspective.  Here is one instance that recently came to my mind.

It was the summer of 1988.  I had signed a contract to buy a house in a nice, conveniently located subdivision in our city, complete with a nearby neighborhood pool.  It was a “fixer upper” home, overpriced, and really more than we could afford to buy.  Worse yet, my wife did not feel good about buying the house.  She explained her concerns to me, but in the end let me make the decision.  I chose to sign the contract.  We set a closing date for about 60 days later.

Almost immediately after signing the contract, God showed me very clearly that I had made a mistake and that I needed to withdraw from this contract.  But the buyer would not release us from the contract, despite my offers to pay even more than the original earnest money payment in exchange for release from the contract.  After consulting with my father-in-law (an attorney) on what to do, we bought the house, quickly painted the entire interior (with the help of my friends), and then put it up on the market as a “For Sale By Owner.”  We had a buyer in 10 days after we bought the house, and we were able to rush the closing through in only 30 days!  I knew that God had spared us from a financial disaster.

Some of our friends, even our Christian friends, did not understand why I would sell that house simply because “God had told me to do it.”  I had to trust that God knew best, and that my friends would later see the wisdom in the decision.

I also dug into God’s Word and found rhema verses to help me to trust Him through this challenging time.  A rhema is a verse or portion of Scripture that the Holy Spirit “speaks” to us (brings to our attention), with application to a current situation or a need for direction.  Here are some of those rhema verses:

Jeremiah 33:3 AMP  Call to Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, fenced in and hidden, which you do not know (do not distinguish and recognize, have knowledge of and understand).

Jeremiah 29:11-13 NASB  'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.  (12)  'Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.  (13)  'You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

Little did we know at that time that a tornado would level that house a year later!  I discovered then that God had not only spared us from financial disaster, but much worse – He had spared us from possible emotional and physical harm.  The only interior walls remaining were around the interior bathroom.  The lady living there had older children than we did at the time, and she was able to get them all safely into the bathtub.  Only God knows if my wife would have been able to do the same thing with our little ones.

Only then did our friends begin to fully comprehend the wisdom in us following God’s promptings, even when we initially did not have a very satisfying explanation to offer them.

Here is my point – your friends, like our friends, will not always understand when you follow God in making a hard decision.  But time always reveals the wisdom of God’s ways and plans.

Isaiah 55:8-9 NASB  "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD.  (9)  "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.

Psalms 25:4-5 NASB  Make me know Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths.  (5)  Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; For You I wait all the day.

Proverbs 3:5-6 AMP  Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.  (6)  In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.

When you are in the midst of a challenging time, I encourage you to use that challenging time to seek God and discover the intimacy, comfort and wisdom that only He can provide.  Ask Him for rhemas to confirm your decision and comfort you.  And be sure to write them down and meditate upon them.

Today, I encourage you to “Reflect on This.”