Welcome to the August 7th 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.
Like this?
Pay it forward by sharing it with someone that could benefit from it. They will thank you for it.
The Story of My Week
This was a week of varying experiences at work and in personal life.
Add to that, I was a bit under the weather.
I am getting better now.
I'm looking forward to the new week with expectations.
It is God that is at work in me to do His good pleasure.
Things I Learnt
1-God Knows What we Need: As I shared a while back, my family changed countries recently due to my work. While we were house hunting, we had a list of possible requirements for the type of apartment we wanted to live in.
We wanted an apartment on either the first or ground floor, a certain number of rooms, and recent construction.
And we wanted an apartment with a huge balcony so our kids could place in - our inside joke was that our last apartment in Spain had a balcony bigger than the apartment itself.
As things would turn out, the apartment we got and felt was what we should take did not have most of these. We had visited so many apartments before this so it was not a case of hopping on the first bus.
It was on the fifth floor and didn't have a huge terrace.
We took it because there was a peace that this was something God is working in.
Guess what? This past week has shown it right.
Mosquitoes are a huge problem here. Having the apartment on the fifth floor has significantly reduced this. This is important because one of our kids doesn't realize that mosquitoes are an issue and leaves the net door open now and again.
The rains have been a lot this season and our location is just perfect with little adverse effect from the heavy rains.
The balcony is not huge but big enough to put our kids' play area with their external toys and our barbecue grill.
We have a reverse of the previous apartment we had in Spain - the internal spaces are huge.
They even ride their bike and scooter in it. This is helpful because of the dust outside.
Add to these, the rent we are paying worked out differently than we had expected.
This is the first country where I have to pay taxes on the rent I pay to the landlord.
I moved before the rest of the family so I got a smaller apartment with a particular budget.
Add the taxes to the rent and it was a pretty sum.
When we got the new apartment, the rent quoted was about 20% higher than what I was paying.
But as it turned out, the 20% higher included the taxes.
As a result, I was paying significantly lower than I thought I would have paid.
All these just reminded me that God knows what we need even while we are chasing after what we want.
And if we let Him lead, He will work everything out for our best.
2-When I Didn’t Know Better: Someone said something during the week which reminded me of why I have chosen to be more patient with people sharing from an incomplete understanding of spiritual matters.
Call it a case of learning from my naivety.
There was a time while listening to Virgil Meares's "We Have Overcome" Integrity music album release, on one of the tracks "No Weapon Formed", they had written
"No weapon formed against us shall prosper
All those who rise up against us shall fall
I will not fear what the devil may bring me
I am a servant of God"
This is based on Isaiah 54:17.
I used to go on and say "I am not a servant anymore, I am a child of God."
As I grew I realized when the joy of sonship is fully understood, one serves the Father like a servant.
We don't lose our sense of access to God but we become so passionate about the Father's work that we do it without chasing a reward.
Even if we know there is a reward that comes with it.
It's probably why Paul refers to himself as a bond-servant rather than "a child of God"
Remembering examples like this from my naive days has given me the patience to bear with the naivety of others.
And when some of them are even pushing towards the boundary of unbelief, I remind myself of the words from Jude.
Be merciful to those who doubt; Jude 1:22
Postscript
May you not be obsessed with looking for what you want that you refuse what you need when God brings them to you. Amen
Like this? Pay it forward by sharing it with your friends.
Was this forwarded to you? Sign up so you don't miss any edition. Click here
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.
0 comments