This past week, my wife and I became homeowners again. We have been renting for over three years, and this was the first time that we had really ever rented. Now, the place we were renting was owned by my old boss, and it worked out well. I took care of the things that needed to be taken care of. It worked well because I did not bother him unless it was important, and he knew that I would pay on time without ever having to chase me down. Again, this worked out well, but we were searching and searching for the place that we could call home.
Our plan was to only rent for a year, maybe two years tops. As I am sure you know, the housing market has been quite challenging. Either the house we were interested in was overpriced, the interest rates were high, or the taxes were too high. We were sitting in our rental over three years later, trying to figure out what was next for us. There had definitely been some different (and sometimes even crazy) ideas that we had. For instance, we looked at purchasing an RV trailer and living in it - six people plus our pets. Another time, we looked at the new movement of taking a shed and turning it into a house. But perhaps the most crazy idea was taking a school bus and turning it into a “Schoolie” (basically an RV).
One day, I was talking to a friend about some of these ideas and he looked at me and said, “I think you are trying too hard. When God wants it to happen, it will.” Honestly I heard him without hearing him. I acknowledged it, but inside thought that sounded good but it's not gonna happen.
Have you ever found yourself trying to make something happen in your life? Now, it’s important to say that we do have to do our part, but it is not our job to do God’s part. I think that many times we try to force something to happen because it's not happening in our timing. I don’t know about you, but I can be quite impatient. If the person in front of me isn’t going at least the speed limit, it drives me nuts. When there is a line, let's keep things moving; now is not the time for a full conversation, let’s keep things moving.
Isn’t this what we do to God sometimes?
God, You aren’t moving fast enough. You haven’t answered my prayer yet, so I guess it’s up to me. I have prayed for this situation and nothing is changing, so I guess it’s up to me to do everything.
What we are really saying to God when we do this is that we don’t truly trust Him. If I trusted Him, then I wouldn’t be stressed out or concerned about the timing. When I truly trust Him, I can be content with what I have. I do not need to push the issues or the timeline. I know that He will open the right doors at the right time. I have to trust that He will, even if it doesn’t fit my timeline.
My wife and I came to this conclusion and felt that God told us to settle down and stop looking for a house. It was like He was saying, "Stop trying to do this on your own. I can and will provide for you." At that moment, we decided to stop looking and really surrender our housing situation to God. About a week later, we found out from someone about a house that was for sale in this area. We felt that God had placed it in our lap since it was not even posted anywhere for sale because it was a private sale. We prayed and continued to walk through the steps. Each step was confirmed, and we were able to settle on the house this week.
We learned that when we are still and recognize God as God (Psalm 46:10), God will work it all out for good. There were things all along the way that just confirmed that God was truly in this. I think God was trying to teach us patience and trust.
I encourage you to take some time today and ask God what area of your life He might be asking you to trust Him in. We need to let God be God and let Him direct our paths.
