When you're all out of options…

Remember how God got His people stuck? Right now I’m re-reading Rees Howells:Intercessor (fabulous read!), and being challenged all over again to trust completely in God.  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.

When I was reading this book last year, we were hoping to buy a certain short-sale house while we still had an income, before taking the crazy leap into the church-planting-no-paystubs-there’s-no-way-any-bank-would-loan-us-money adventure. But all summer long God had us waiting. Just waiting. Then, our employment ended. No paystubs = no financing. Three days after our employment ended we heard back that the bank was ready to move forward with the house sale.

HAHAHAHA!

Okay, God: You’re doing things Your own way. 

We ran out of options. Completely. We walked away from the house frustrated and discouraged. But you know what happened after that? God swooped in, giving us more than we could have ever imagined. Yes, a better house.

But more importantly, a better faith. 

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. We are too. (Again!) 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 …

{Where are you out of options? Trusting Him, with you. Thanks for reading.}