Sunday Afternoon Tea - A story of faith building trials

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.  Phil. 4:6,7

When I think back to that not-so-long ago year of 2019, it is difficult to believe how much the world has changed.  I think in 2020, we were surprised at the pandemic but the average person thought it would pass quickly.  After all, originally we were told here in the States that if we stayed in isolation for two weeks, all would be fine.  Right...

I was uneasy in 2020 but I can't recall feeling much anxiety, that didn't start until January of 2021 when the new administration took office and we watched in disbelief the changes that began that month and have escalated since then.  While we feel the changes here, we have also watched in disbelief at the changes in other countries such as Australia.

I finally have lived through stages of shock and grief and a longing for the way things used to be (there is much to miss about the old days).  I doubt that will ever happen and realistically, if we look at what the Bible says, there will be more difficult days for the world ahead.  But I don't feel anxiety about the future.  That is because God had prepared me for this time the best He could long ago.

There was a season of time when my husband, son, and I went through some very difficult trials.  We had been through trials before but those which started soon after 9/11 and continued a few years were so hard that sometimes I had to remind myself to breath.  Literally... under extreme anxiety, I hold my breath!

I would try to name just one of the trials we were going through but really, it was the combination of all of them that was so hard that I didn't think I would live through them.  Life was excruciatingly difficult and I had no idea what the future held or where we would be living after going through a year of unemployment.

However, in the midst of those trials, God performed one miracle after another.  It really is true that the darker our days, the easier it is to see His hand at work.  When I first started blogging, it hadn't been all that long that we had begun to come out of that season and some of my early blog posts were about suffering.

One story I have told but not for a long time is about the day we were leaving the house we had rented for about a year to move back home.  It was not a good time to move in our way of looking at everything but we had to since the divorced couple who had rented the house to us were selling it.

That was the house that I have written about that was so near a pond, I used to sit on the front porch stairs with my open Bible and watch the pond while talking to God.  My faith grew strong during that time because my roots had to dig down deeply into God's Word and to trust Him or I doubt I would have survived.

Our move back home was accomplished with almost no money.  It came in a little at a time just as we needed it.  For instance, the money needed to rent a U-Haul came just in time.  However, when we were ready to pull out of the driveway of the house we had rented for a year, we did not have enough money for food on the way, much less gas for our car to make it all the way.

Just when my husband got in the U-Haul and I was behind the wheel of the car, our next door neighbor came running up to the car window through the woods that divided the two properties.  He said he had been thinking of us and gave us a $100 bill for the trip back home.

Friends, we had not told him that we didn't have enough money and to make the story even more crazy... our next door neighbor was kind of a "biker dude" and dressed the part.  But we liked him and had enjoyed talking to him from time to time.

My husband talked to him about the Lord and it turned out he had a sister who had been praying for him for many years.  I believe those prayers were working and who knew but that he was one of the reasons we went through some of those trials.

That $100 enabled us to fill up our car, fill up the U-Haul with gas before we turned it back in, and have food to eat on the way.  Our destination was to put all of our belongings into a storage unit when we got to town and we were staying that week at our friend's house while they were traveling out of the country.

I wish I could say that season of trials ended immediately but God led us step by step. It was a year or two later when my husband finally applied for Disability and because he was accepted, we qualified to buy the house we live in now.  Our credit was good enough, in spite of long term unemployment, because he had kept in touch with creditors.

When some time had passed from that season of intense trials, God began to open my eyes to the benefits of going through them.  Even my son spoke about some of the miracles, especially about the "biker dude" neighbor who gave us money as we were leaving, at his homeschool graduation ceremony.

When I was going through that time of intense trials, I knew God was telling me that I would come out of them prepared for what He had for me in the next part of my life.  At that time, I didn't have a clue how that could be possible. All I knew was He was telling me to "write... just write".  Not a book and not even an article but just to write as if I was talking to a friend.

Then I discovered this thing called blogging and the rest is history.  No, it is actually His-Story.  For the Truths He taught me were the very things I would write about.  A friend told me during our time of trials that she believed God was taking me through tribulation (little "t") so I could help people in the Big "T" Tribulation.

I didn't understand what she was saying until these last two years.  If we truly are, as David Jeremiah preached, in the shadow of the Tribulation.  One does not have to walk through the real thing to feel the darkness of the shadow.

So, each Sunday I can write with assurance that God will see you through any trial that may be ahead because I have lived it.  He didn't provide steak or lobster... or even pizza!... when I longed for it but He provided for every meal.  Because I knew how to cook and bake, we could eat good meals for little money.

We couldn't afford to do very many activities but we were able to get a season pass sticker for our car so we could go to the Michigan State Parks at any time weather permitted.  God's creation has always spoken to me, whether hiking the trails through forests or sitting at the edge of Lake Michigan watching the big ships on their way to Chicago in the distance.

Because of the Internet, we were able to keep up with family and friends while living in an area where we didn't know anyone else.  How we came to live there is a very long story!

God showed me that if we trusted Him, did not become bitter when going through our circumstances, and looked for His presence in everything going on in our life, then we could go through those trials with His help.  That is His message to all of us in this time which we find ourselves living.

If you still have breath, He has a reason for you to be here.  Who knows, maybe you have your own version of the "biker dude" who has someone praying for their salvation.  Remember that fear is not from God.  I always remind myself when I feel fear that it is coming from the enemy of our souls!

Read His Word.  Talk to Him.  Listen to Him.  He will direct your paths.  I know that He is faithful.