I like the saying, "Sometimes God lets you hit rock bottom so that you will discover that He is the rock at the bottom."
There were two times in my life where I truly gave my situation to God completely. The first time it was a total surrender of our finances to God to take care of our family when we couldn't There was no other choice but to give it to God. One of our teenage sons was in a terrible accident and was in the hospital for an extended period of time. I knew I needed to work in order to financially stay afloat since the type of job I had did not have paid vacation or sick days as a benefit. We needed that paycheck or we would be in severe trouble. The accident happened on a Sunday and I planned to go to work on Monday, until my friend helped me to see what was important. I agreed to stay at the hospital on Monday but would come back to work on Tuesday. Our son just needed to rest and heal and I could go to work and come visit at night. That would have to do since we couldn't afford me missing work.
But Monday morning brought our world to a jolting halt. I had actually gone home Sunday night to sleep and went back up in the morning. My mindset was still that he just needed to rest and heal. He didn't need me there 24/7. I walked into the hospital room that next morning to see the doctor standing by our son's bed and a nurse off to the side. I can still remember the emotions to this day even though this happened 14 years ago. (I have tears in my eyes right now just thinking about it) The doctor told me that our son was paralyzed and he wasn't sure if it was permanent or not. What? I remember starting to cry when the phone rang. I don't know why I answered it when all of this was happening, but it was my best friend and co-worker calling to see how we were. I stepped away from our son so he wouldn't see me cry and I told my friend the gut-wrenching news. The nurse in the room saw how I was struggling with uncontrollable tears as I talked on the phone. She grabbed my hand and held me emotionally. She knew exactly what to do to help me at that moment. I so appreciated that (more than words can express)! It was at that exact moment I gave it completely to God. I knew where I needed to be. It didn't matter that we could lose everything...my everything was laying in that bed paralyzed. I told my friend that I didn't know when I would be back to work. I had no other option but to give it all to God. I couldn't humanly do anything else. I knew God loved me enough to have His one and only Son die for me and I knew He would take care of me now...and God did take care of us. He worked through our church friends, our families, and my wonderful co-workers and the families of the students I worked with at the school as a paraprofessional. As I stayed at the hospital day after day, my family at home had a hot meal every day from our loving friends. Prayers, cards, meals, phone calls, hospital visits, money donations, chauffeuring our kids to school, were some of the amazing ways they helped us. It was truly AMAZING! Let me say it again....AMAZING!!! God did that for me and my family. I gave it completely to God and He supplied what we needed as He said he would. And to top that all off, the school paid me for the two and a half weeks I was off work. I will always be humbly grateful and AMAZED in my God and my friends & family!
The second complete surrender was just a couple months ago. As I shared in the "God is So Good" post, I prayed for almost a year for guidance in what God wanted me to do. Should I stay at the heating and cooling company or was there something else He wanted me to do. Throughout that year my heart was tugged when I saw different groups of people cross my path. Was I really being used of God answering phones and setting appointments? Then a few months ago I began to pray more earnestly for a clear sign so I wouldn't have any doubt. I was thinking God would let me know where I needed to go, but He showed me through a clear sign that I needed to leave my current job. I waited five days before giving my notice. I had no peace until I sat down with my manager and let her know I had to leave. After I talked with my manager all the health symptom signs went away. Wow, God used extreme anxiety and stress to cause me to leave that job and those signs all completely went away after they accomplished their mission! But, where was I going to work now? I surrendered it all over to God. If He wanted me to leave that job, He would provide another one to take its place. I didn't worry about it one bit, even after one job interview didn't pan out. That just wasn't what He wanted for me. I began to just relax and enjoy my "vacation". I could get used to retirement! 😉 But, three weeks after I left my job of 10 years, I had another job lined up. A friend at church let me know that the school she worked at still needed paraprofessionals so I went in and talked to the principal and was pretty much hired on the spot! I start that new job today. To read more about this, read my post "God is So Good".
I have given situations over to God many times, but not as completely as these two times. I still worried during other situations when I hadn't really turned it all over to God. Knowing God's amazing provision the first time gave me the confidence needed to give it all to Him again the second time. We just need to trust in what God tells us in His word. If He tells us He will provide for our needs, then we can trust in it.
The best cure for worry is trust in God!
I Will Trust in You - by Lauren Daigle
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