Faithfulness and Endurance

UGH!  That is the first though that comes to me when I think of faithfulness and endurance because you know that you have to endure 'stuff' to be faithful and the 'stuff' is very often not of the pleasant variety!!
Here is our latest struggle.  We have been trying to save money to put a substantial sum on our mortgage, this is what the last several months looks like for us:
Saved 1000.00 - washing machine and microwave died - goodbye savings
Saved 2000.00 - stove died - paid 500 to try and fix it to no avail - new stove - 1800 - goodbye savings
Saved 1000.00 - then this:

can you see it - that GIANT softball size crack in our windshield?  Here it comes - are you ready - UGH!
Cost of a new windshield - 1200.00 - savings GONE  AGAIN!
I seriously could have cried!  Andy was driving to another city to do some training when a semi-truck passed him and this large stone flew up and hit the windshield.  I should mention at this point that THREE DAYS BEFORE this happened, we had just paid 120.00 to have 4 small chips fixed in the windsheild.
What is the lesson in this?  We have really been trying to honor God with this vehicle taking very good care of it, making sure the maintenance is up to date, etc.  Surely God, you care about the details in our lives, surely you are sovereign and could have prevented this from happening...
As I asked God what the deal was, what I believe He told me was that circumstances occur in our lives so that He HAS to get the glory.
Now rewind a week or so.  Andy and I had the privilege of having time to visit with our pastors.  We talked a bit about finances with them and just spoke about how we were frustrated with all of these things coming up.  They very wisely replied, "hmmm, you know, when we hear you speak about your children, you are like bulldogs in your prayers for them.  You know the scriptures that God has promised and you won't let go until you see God accomplish in their lives what He has promised, but when you speak about your finances, you don't have that same faith.  You need to ask God to give you scripture that you can stand on for your finances so that you can develop that faith in this area."
Shortly after that, I flopped on the bed, about as human and real as I could possibly be, and even pouting a little bit and said, "ok God, give me a scripture here that I can stand on."  I opened my husband's gigantic paralell bible and the verse that screamed off the page at me was Ps 37: 25-26  

I was young and now I am old,

    yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken 

    or their children begging bread.

²⁶ 

They are always generous and lend freely; 

    their children will be a blessing.

Now to most of you - that is prolly no big deal but to me, that was huge, because that is the scripture that the pastor who married us gave us the day of our wedding.  That we would be people who would lend to many but borrow from none.
Humph!

So my conclusion is this:  James 1:2-4  Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

You see for us, its really not about the windshield, its about the savings.  If our savings keep getting eaten up by these things it feels like we can never get ahead.  On one hand, we are so completely thankful that we have the means to be able to fix and/or replace these things but on the other hand, its very frustrating when you are trying to save to get ahead on a mortgage.

I think that sometimes we need to experience the UGH in life so that when we see God's faithfulness to us, it is only He that gets the glory b/c there is NO way that it could be anything but Him.  
So now, we will continue to maintain our vehicle, and will know that these trials are perfecting our faith and that no matter what comes our way, our God shall supply all our needs, including $ for our mortgage, according to his riches in Glory!  
Be encouraged today, that the struggles you face in your own life are not for naught.  God knows exactly what you need and when you need it and He is faithful, He will never leave you nor forsake you and in Him the answer can always be found.  Find your strength and refuge in Him. Pin It