I am sitting in the teacher’s lounge, waiting for my next class. Today is my first day with my new job as a substitute teacher. I made sure to eat a good breakfast + drink strong coffee before walking on campus.
So far so good. I am extremely grateful for this opportunity my family has to take care of our family financially. We have given our lives to the work of God–pioneering a new church. Pioneering something new takes a lot of work + resources. BJ and I not only want to make sure our home is financially secure, but we want to lead our church in generosity. While we were praying for God to multiply that which He has entrusted us with, we felt He was leading us to get full time jobs in addition to the full time work we do for our growing, new church.
As I sit here and reflect, I could not help but be overwhelmed by the goodness of God. For those of you who don’t know, my husband BJ and I moved to South Florida just over 3 years ago in pursuit of pioneering a new, life-giving church. The two of us made the 3,000 mile journey from home with BIG vision and an AUDACIOUS mission to create communities influenced by the love of Jesus.
It has been a wild ride so far–an adventure I would not trade for anything else. We have experienced some incredible moments & seasons. It has also come with many challenges & discouragements along the way. In both the victories and the hardships, God has been good to us.
We began this daring adventure of church planting full of excitement and strong belief–what God placed in our heart, we would see happen. BJ & I consider ourselves to be people of great faith, people who believe God at His word.
In the book of Hebrews, faith is described as being “the SUBSTANCE of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” One translation says it’s “the CONFIDENCE of things hoped for….”
So, here it’s saying that, faith is the tangible matter of who we are, it is the confidence we have IN the very thing we can not see.
As I look back at the events that have led me to this place right here, right now, I am made aware of a pattern–God whispers vision/hope/purpose in our ears, our faith is tested and we are left with a choice to remain confident or crumble under pressure.
There have been so many opportunities for BJ and I to crumble. Plenty of opportunities for our confidence to lack.
The past few weeks has been a series of opportunities for our confidence to be weakened. Not only have there been opportunities, but I have fallen victim to discouragement. I have allowed these opportunities to become realities for me– experiencing moments & even days where I have walked around defeated & discouraged.
My prayers and my beliefs don’t match up with my current reality. That can be devastating and defeating if we are not careful.
But as I am sitting in the teacher’s lounge on my first day, I am experiencing a BLOG moment.
If I have placed my trust, my confidence and my hope in Jesus AND if I believe that He not only hears my prayers, but answers them, then I will remain confident in that which I do not yet see. As I stepped foot on this school campus, I chose to fully believe that His perfect will has led me here. That even though substitute teaching was not in my grand ole plans of church planting, I remain confident. Rather than allowing my reality to discourage me, I choose to allow what I do not see, encourage me.
God not only hears the prayers we speak, but He knows the requests and desires we do not even dare to whisper out loud. My prayers and my hearts desires have led me to this place. It doesn’t look like it, but my faith is not in what is seen, but it’s in the things not seen.
I am excited to see what is now unseen. For I know that God’s perfect plan has led me here.
Are you standing in your answered prayer? Are you discouraged by what you see and what your season looks like? Take courage…God is working, God is moving. He had not left you.
TRUTH:
Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Hebrews 11:1
DARE:
dont lose your confidence
