My Testimony

Though life has been hard I know that I have a place of permanence in the middle of life's uncertainties and I have the assurance of God's provision which are based on two very clear principles: trusting in the LORD and doing good to others. This is not an original thought, it was in today's verse that I send out and it really impacted me.

I have learned more about my faith and how the Lord works in the last few months than I have the rest of my life combined. I thought that because I am His child that He would do what I wanted Him to do only because I trusted in Him. I have heard the message of prosperity over and over but I had it all wrong. Just because we are His doesn't mean we will be prosperous in ways that are typically associated with prosperity. In order to make us prosperous in spirit we have to go through the testing of our faith to really understand what it means. I might not be prosperous financially right now but I am spiritually, relationally, physically, and emotionally. The road will not always be easy. He teaches us things and then tests us to see what we have learned. Just a as a teacher is quite when his students are taking the test, so is God. It may feel He is not there but He is, quietly watching from the sidelines to see what we will do.

I thank Him so much for what He has done in my life. I have a much deeper faith and understanding of Him now than ever before. When I began praying for His direction as to what career He wanted me to pursue back in the Spring of 2004 I was open to what ever He wanted for me. I thought that would be a corporate job making $60,000 + a year. I have the experience and the degree so why not? I never thought He would tell me to be an underpaid, overworked teacher! But He did and I just can't explain how happy I am about that. Prosperity is about a whole lot more than money. It's taken me almost 45 years to figure that out, but I'm glad that's all it took. Some folks never figure it out.

Not too long ago I read these verses and they forever changed my life:

17 Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD ,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.

19 The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights. - Habakkuk 3: 17-19

There are no grapes on my vine right now, there is no "cattle" in my stall as I had to sell my horse for the money. But I do rejoice because He has made my feet sure and steady and I know where I am going. The problems of this life do not matter, what happenes to me does not matter. What matters is my eternal life!!