GOD INDEED WORKS IN mysterious ways. When he’s working on the inside of a person, trying to get it as clean as the “look” of a devoted Christian, it is a rough journey.
This notion of working on the hidden and ugly parts, found in the mind and soul of a Christian, probably occurs to the Lord when he hears prayers like, ‘Thank you for all you’ve given me and please forgive me for my sins. If I have any.
‘Please help so and so with his awful addiction, and so and so with her blind spot, and thank you for making me a better person.’
After selling my large home on the “right” side of town, I planned to have a home built in the same area, but the Lord had other plans. (If you’re trying to keep up, this is the house the Lord built for me after I lost my other home to foreclosure ten years prior.)
Knowing that it would take eighteen months to move in, I purchased a smaller house across town, one that I planned to lease out at some point. Due to land development issues, three years passed.
Even though my daughter and I were quite comfortable, I was still willing to build that house.
If it was important to her.
To get her back into the neighborhood with her friends.
I secretly hoped that she would want to move because I was tired of “hiding” in the “wrong” neighborhood. I was already driving a ten-year-old car because of a promise I made to the Lord about becoming more financially responsible. I told him, I’ll drive my car until the wheels come off.
How was I to know a car would be so dependable after a hundred thousand miles? Needless to say, the car and now my address were not helping my image of success.
When asked if she would like to move, my daughter answered. “Only if you want to move, mom. I’m happy here and I’ll be going off to school soon anyway.”
Obviously it didn’t matter to my daughter as much as it did to me as the glaring truth was revealed.
I am not content to live in the wrong house and drive the wrong car.
I care what people think about me.
I always want to look good, and more than righteous, I mean I want to look successful, smart, and powerful.
I want the approval of people.
Now I know if I followed the god of prosperity preached on television and in those large arenas, I might drive a new car and live in a big house. But I follow Jesus, a man who didn’t have a place to lay his head; a man with no money, and who owned nothing. Luke 9:58
Jesus successfully overcame death, outsmarted the wisest of men, and is still the most powerful person who ever lived. And he told me to be financially responsible.
This is not to say I believe God wants his children to live in a van down by the river. I believe he delights in lavishing us with his blessings and sometimes wealth, just as he did with King David, who began his life as a shepherd boy.
I’m just saying that it should have come as no surprise to me that he wanted me to see that I was still in bondage to my addictions to:
power,
position,
possessions,
and people.
He wanted me to see the blind spot that kept me from seeing the truth about myself. The inside of this vessel I call my body, was still dirty.
When I fed them, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me. Hosea 13:6 (NIV)
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.—Jesus (Matthew 19:24)
Isaiah 2:8, Psalm 106:36,2 Kings 17:41, Deuteronomy 8:17-18
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As always, it is my intent and hope that my words may encourage you wherever you are in your journey.
If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.–Jesus (Mark 4:23)
