Today’s No Fear Just Faith post comes from a VERY dear friend Yolande’, you know the kind of friend you can call up in the middle of the night because your kid keeps falling asleep while breastfeeding and you are sure you are starving him…(thanks for that by the way) here is her story 🙂Â
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Let me start my No Fear Just Faith insert by rephrasing the title just slightly…just for the first bit of the story (sorry Eleanor ;)) – Yes Fear, but still Faith.
If I think back to all the pivotal “leap of faith moments” in my life, one thing is for certain, each of those moments left me scared out of my socks. But yet it was my faith that convinced me to take on those challenges despite my human shortcomings.
Let me give you guys a bit of a back story to one of those moments – one that has grown my faith in the Lord beyond what words can describe.
I’ve always trusted the Lord. I can’t think back to any moment in my life where I haven’t and that is thanks to a good upbringing and parents who led me to the Lord at a very young age.
But like most of us, we tend to trust God with some things while other facets of our lives we foolishly believe we have sorted. For instance, I have a great job, that part I can control.
I never really even realised that I was doing that until the day the Lord had different plans for me.
When I became pregnant about four years ago (I’m not going to go into too much detail, as that story might just turn this insert into a book), my husband’s job situation became unbearable and he became one of the thousands of South Africans who each year become victims of violence. His safety while doing his job became a great concern and took a major toll on him and our family. We prayed day in and day out for a way out.
During this time the Lord spoke to us so clearly one evening while reading the Bible. I still get goose bumps thinking about it. Earlier that year – way before the pawpaw struck the fan – we decided to start reading the Bible from the beginning to the end and that evening (just as my husband reached the lowest of low moments) 2 Samuel 22 was the scripture of day. (God knew what would happen and He knew that we would be reading that particular chapter on that particular night…I’m still in awe). Again, I’m not going to go into too much detail but the scripture is about God’s incredible protection over his children. Read it if you have a moment.
We knew that he had our backs right there and then and waited for him to open the door we so desperately needed.
When our little boy Samuel (the name – among other reasons – thanks to the amazing scripture God sent our way) was born the struggle however continued, but by that time our hearts were aching. Like many working parents we barely got to see our son. My job as a mother was pretty much narrowed down to feeding him in the morning and the bath time/evening feed routine. I lived for weekends while my husband only saw him every second weekend due to work.
We felt that it wasn’t God’s heart for us to live this way. This all while the dark cloud regarding my husband’s job and safety was hanging over us.
One day however – totally out of left field – an opportunity to start our own endeavour (working for ourselves) in another town presented itself. (I must just add this opportunity came about four hours after my husband told a friend that he would never move out of Port Elizabeth…got to love the Lord’s timing)
We knew that this was the door we were praying for.
The reality however was where the faith bit came in. It meant that we both had to quit our jobs, pack up our entire lives (with a little baby), move to a new town where we didn’t know a soul and start from scratch. No safety nets like secure jobs or support systems – just bare faith.
Taking that step however showed us what true faith was – completely relying on the Lord in every aspect of our lives.
I’m sure you can imagine the fear, but it was and is incredibly liberating at the same time. Â
It has not been a bed of roses – yes we get to see your child grow up as we work from home (and can actually have a hand in it), we work for ourselves so we have flexible hours to enjoy nature (we love the outdoors) and really connect as a family. But then again your finances are a nightmare. If no work comes in, there is no money as simple as that and we have little control over that (thank goodness in a way). There have been times where we were down to our last R200 (literally) and half the month was still ahead. But then the Lord out of nowhere comes to the rescue. It has been incredible. Time after time he has shown us that he is faithful.
And through God’s faithfulness – the fear has gone and now I can truly say: No Fear Just Faith
