But, What Did God Say?
In the hours spent reminiscing of Pastor Arthur stories over the last few days I got to thinking of this story and thought it would be fitting to share it with y’all as a blog this morning.
A little over three years ago Dan and I were in the process of selling our house and buying a new one. For four years of going to Freedom we’d lived an hour away and the concept of being only a few minutes was refreshing to us. (Seriously we spent four years napping and lunching in the back building in between Sunday services, but that’s for another blog) The day came for us to close on our old house and buy this one, but I got a call the bank for the closing decided to wait for the next Monday but they assured me we’d close. My grandparents and my mom came down in an RV to help us move. So after a lot of discussion back and forth the seller of this house agreed to let us move our stuff in their garage and we’d just postpone the closing. Believing there wasn’t an issue all my electric and phone got transferred over to the new house.
Monday came. Long story short the bank kept stalling. I couldn’t close on the other house without selling the old one. All of my stuff was in a house that wasn’t mine and the sellers of this house were getting angry. We had no where to live, and while most people would check into a motel we didn’t. My grandparents parked the RV in front of the new house, and stayed in the driveway. Technically illegally we stayed on a futon mattress on the new houses floor.
It was the night of the first night while we’re here illegally that I called Pastor Arthur. I was freaking out. By this point I was convinced they cops were going to come and deport my husband. (He wasn’t a citizen at the time, but did hold a green card by that moment) I was making no logical sense. Pastor Arthur listened to my wild fears. I could tell he’d had a long day because it had taken him a bit to call me back. I could hear it in his voice, but he simply responded, “But what did God say?”
Eventually our realtors worked out a deal. We rented this house back from the seller for two weeks until a different buyer bought our old house and we were able to close on this one.
Jesus had a very similar moment with the disciples when he calmed the storm. Luke 8:22 says, “One day he and his disciples got in a boat. "Let's cross the lake," he said. And off they went. It was smooth sailing, and he fell asleep. A terrific storm came up suddenly on the lake. Water poured in, and they were about to capsize. They woke Jesus: "Master, Master, we're going to drown!" Getting to his feet, he told the wind, "Silence!" and the waves, "Quiet down!" They did it. The lake became smooth as glass.”
The disciples were freaking out, and Jesus later goes on to nicely rebuke them for their doubt and unbelief.
Many of you are facing storms right now. Your facing winds and waves that you never thought you would. Some of those storms are physical storms, some financial, some storms are like tidal waves weeping over the passing of Pastor Arthur and they don’t know where to go from here. But I’ll ask you the same thing he asked me that night as I cried in the phone to him. “But what did God say?” What did God say to you about this situation? God is truth and he doesn’t lie even if we don’t understand everything all the time. What did God say in the midst of your storm.
I encourage you to get back to where you know what God has said to you. He causes peace to come to the storm that is raging around you. He tells the winds and waves they have to subside. Be at peace to day and know that God is God. Remember what God has said over your life. We serve a faithful God. Allow Him to calm the storms around you.
A little over three years ago Dan and I were in the process of selling our house and buying a new one. For four years of going to Freedom we’d lived an hour away and the concept of being only a few minutes was refreshing to us. (Seriously we spent four years napping and lunching in the back building in between Sunday services, but that’s for another blog) The day came for us to close on our old house and buy this one, but I got a call the bank for the closing decided to wait for the next Monday but they assured me we’d close. My grandparents and my mom came down in an RV to help us move. So after a lot of discussion back and forth the seller of this house agreed to let us move our stuff in their garage and we’d just postpone the closing. Believing there wasn’t an issue all my electric and phone got transferred over to the new house.
Monday came. Long story short the bank kept stalling. I couldn’t close on the other house without selling the old one. All of my stuff was in a house that wasn’t mine and the sellers of this house were getting angry. We had no where to live, and while most people would check into a motel we didn’t. My grandparents parked the RV in front of the new house, and stayed in the driveway. Technically illegally we stayed on a futon mattress on the new houses floor.
It was the night of the first night while we’re here illegally that I called Pastor Arthur. I was freaking out. By this point I was convinced they cops were going to come and deport my husband. (He wasn’t a citizen at the time, but did hold a green card by that moment) I was making no logical sense. Pastor Arthur listened to my wild fears. I could tell he’d had a long day because it had taken him a bit to call me back. I could hear it in his voice, but he simply responded, “But what did God say?”
Eventually our realtors worked out a deal. We rented this house back from the seller for two weeks until a different buyer bought our old house and we were able to close on this one.
Jesus had a very similar moment with the disciples when he calmed the storm. Luke 8:22 says, “One day he and his disciples got in a boat. "Let's cross the lake," he said. And off they went. It was smooth sailing, and he fell asleep. A terrific storm came up suddenly on the lake. Water poured in, and they were about to capsize. They woke Jesus: "Master, Master, we're going to drown!" Getting to his feet, he told the wind, "Silence!" and the waves, "Quiet down!" They did it. The lake became smooth as glass.”
The disciples were freaking out, and Jesus later goes on to nicely rebuke them for their doubt and unbelief.
Many of you are facing storms right now. Your facing winds and waves that you never thought you would. Some of those storms are physical storms, some financial, some storms are like tidal waves weeping over the passing of Pastor Arthur and they don’t know where to go from here. But I’ll ask you the same thing he asked me that night as I cried in the phone to him. “But what did God say?” What did God say to you about this situation? God is truth and he doesn’t lie even if we don’t understand everything all the time. What did God say in the midst of your storm.
I encourage you to get back to where you know what God has said to you. He causes peace to come to the storm that is raging around you. He tells the winds and waves they have to subside. Be at peace to day and know that God is God. Remember what God has said over your life. We serve a faithful God. Allow Him to calm the storms around you.
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