The most recent thing I’m learning about God: He loves making us run out of options.
He really does. I think it delights Him. Remember last week how God led His people into a corner? Deliberately making them stuck? In the Rees Howells book I’m reading, over and over God would lead Rees in prayer to go all these different routes, only to prove that no money, no man, and no medicine could truly do the trick. Only a miracle would do. And then, after all options had been tried, every source dried up and every resource exhausted, then God would swoop in and do a crazy miracle, flexing His muscles and proving to everyone watching that He alone is God.
I think He must just love that.
I believe He’s doing that with us too. He just wants to make sure we–and all who are watching–will know that He alone is God and He alone deserves all trust, praise, glory, worship, adoration.
All summer long, while we had a great income and were in a perfect position to buy a house, God had us waiting. We had made an offer on a short sale and were in a waiting period, not looking, not doing anything. Just waiting. Then, our employment ended last week. Yes, we’re employed now by RENEW church but let’s just say we don’t necessarily have any paystubs yet. No paystubs = no financing. And so just 3 days after our steady income ceased, we hear back from the bank that they are ready to move forward with the short sale deal.
HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Okay, God, we get it: You’re doing things Your own way.
See, man’s way is to look and see what he already has–how many leaders, how much money, what gifts, talents, abilities, and then attempt something based on what he already has. God’s way is to show His people what HE wants to do and then show us how completely inadequate and ill-prepared and under-resourced we are for the task, and then swoop in with His miraculous power and matchless resources and do His work in His power in His way for His glory.
But in order to get to that really-cool-God-swooping-in-part we have to walk through the all-run-out-of-options part.
You ever been there? Maybe you are there. Remember, God loves to remind us that every other source will leave us empty. Only dependence on Him will yield the fruit of righteousness, faith, love, hope. Only abiding in Him and relying on Him for everything will give us lasting joy.
So just in case you’re in the middle of the all-run-out-of-options part of the story, hold on. Hold onto Jesus, the really-cool-God-swooping-in-part is coming …
{All out of options, with you. Trusting Him, with you. Thanks for reading.}
5 thoughts on “When you're all out of options…”
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If I’m not mistaken, that photo from the top was taken a few years ago not far from the intersection we were stopped at for hours on Friday. So glad to be with you when we’re all out of options.
I LOVE THIS KARI!!
Over this past year we have been through that very same thing…God is the one who will provide even when we don’t know how he will do it. One passage that we keep coming back to is Joshua 3:13 where it talks about how the soles of the feet of the priests feet went into the water before it stopped. For us, we feel like God continually leads us to put our feet in first before he moves. He’s always moving of course but it seems as though he wants us to trust him, take a step forward often into the unknown and depend on him for the next direction…
Thanks for posting this, as always I am so encouraged by you…
Seriously we need to get together soon!
Chris
“Father into your hands, I commit my spirit” Luke 23:46 There will be growth, a change, and a resurrection. “The way up is go go down; the way down is to go up” Timothy Keller’s words. Frances and I are praying for both of you.
Letting go of control and stepping out into (what seems like) “the abyss” is not my go-to position. I get there like a bumper car that bump, bump, bumps dozens of times as it veers in different directions of my own choosing, colliding with obstacles. Then, finally, I head in THAT direction: obedience. In surrender my vision improves dramatically. Yours is already nearly 20/20. You are watching and listening. It will be marvelous to witness God swooping in to bless you four.
We’ve been walking this the past year and a half. We’ve felt like every time we would go to lift up our heads something else would wipe us out or doors would slam shut. We know that to make the changes means we can be better off financially which in turn means we can bless more to others but I keep telling myself that ‘timing is everthing is and God’s timing is perfect every time’.
What I love is that your husband is your biggest fan and he’s right there to love being on this road of life with you. Thank God for great husbands who love Jesus!
Remember what the diamond has to go through before it gets to shine…a lot of chipping away at and cutting and scraping to get to the polishing state.
Lucky for you you’re still shining during the hard processes.