Welcome to the March 13th edition of Faith & Life Lessons.
You will see this email full of tidbits from my week. My goal is simple. I hope that from how I live my life, you can find a thing or two that helps you as you try to live a life that matters. I am always trying to do one thing - make Christ-focused decisions in love, work, and life. And this was my week.
The Story of My Week
This has been a bit of an intense week for my family.
Something we had been working on for almost a year and a half seems to be slipping through our fingers.
During the week, we got feedback from the consultant working with us on it that our application had fallen through.
The only problem.
We had been praying for a while and had come to a strong conviction that this was something God wants for us.
After the shocker and a no-way forward response from the consultant, something awoke in us.
A thought sprung in my heart to call a friend.
He connected us to another consultant and we went to meet with him.
He was candid. The earlier consultant had made mistakes in our submission and follow-up.
We had two choices.
We could reapply immediately but with a limited possibility of success.
The second choice had a higher chance of success if we could get an additional document.
Further details later, the second option had a walk-around approach.
But the workaround is a compromise of the Christian values we live by. It includes a lie.
This was our Shadrach-Meshach-Abednego moment.
My wife said “if we have to do this to get it, then let’s lose it. We will not do it and if we have to lose it, so be it.”
I’d never been prouder of my wife.
So, in faith, we chose the route that keeps our Christian confession.
Even if it means that we don’t get something that we are confident that God has promised us.
It’s an emotional drain.
We have not slept as well as we usually do.
And God is still finding ways to cheer us up.
On Friday, my wife got a call from an office she had requested to. It came out of the blues.
The same day, I got a salary increase I was not expecting.
God’s way of winking at us in all these.
We continue to trust.
Our testimony is not the happily ever after that comes.
Our testimony is that we choose for God in every season.
Including this one.
We sow our perseverance and trust in God for the fulfillment of His promise.
Things I Learnt
1-Stories from the Down Under: The whole event of the past week opened us to encouragement from our friends.
I’ll share two stories.
She reminded us that no matter what was happening, God is involved and will always take care of His children.
She has lost her parents at age 11. Later on, she experienced supernatural healing at age 16 when she could not walk.
She learned to lean on God from early on. She is closer to 60 years old now.
Still faithful.
Another story is from a couple who were given very short notice to deposit the home they were buying on a mortgage.
There was another buyer in the wings.
They didn’t have the amount from any sources.
They asked friends.
One of the friends they asked said God had told them to give the couple a huge cash gift about 9 months earlier.
It was over 50% what they needed.
A customer agreed to make the full-year payment on a service the husband provides. This was over 30% of what they needed.
They found the balance payment of 20% before the deadline and without going into debt.
These stories me of how God can come through.
No matter the odds we face.
2-A Conflict by Leaders not People: As I read a book with my son, the country Russia came up.
To explain better, I told my son that it is the country of one of his classmates.
A thought struck me in it all.
I wondered how the family is coping as Russians. I have heard stories of people taking out their anger on the Russian government on everyday Russians.
I decided to greet them more cheerfully the next day – which I did.
I also have close Ukrainian friends. I feel their hurt even more.
They have served as missionaries for almost 20 years in Spain.
They used to be supported by their home church in Ukraine. But when the war started eight years ago, the church was not able to continue supporting them. They chose to stay and work other jobs to support themselves while still doing ministry.
The husband's mother was visiting when the war escalated. A lot of the people they know are still there. The neighborhood the wife comes from has been bombarded.
The people are choosing to stay to help because they say as Christians they are not afraid of dying. This includes her parents who are over 80 years old.
No matter what the leaders push, we must never ignore the people who live through the decisions.
We serve and shine our light
Postscript
I pray that you will find the help God has placed in your life through the people He has surrounded you with. May you never be afraid to open your mouth and ask. Amen
Tata,
Tola - The Everyday Disciple
I help Christians like you who want to live intentional lives incorporate their faith into everyday life so they can make Christ focused decisions in all areas of life and truly live to make an impact and make God happy.
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