Wait for the Lord

"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."
~Psalm 27:14

With every lesson I learned through financial difficulties, I was ecstatic that this might be "the one." I was sure that these circumstances were upon us for a reason. If I could just figure out what I was supposed to learn, then we could be done with this lesson. That's pretty much the way that I've approached any struggle in my life- figure out what I'm supposed to learn and get out of the hardship. I was crushed if a similar circumstance ever came upon my life again.

I'm sure the Lord tried to teach me this lesson in a number of other ways. It took years of financial hardship before I could finally sit back and wait on the Lord. He answers in His own way and in His own timing. I could look back and see how He was there with money, friends, and great deals. He was working in my life- I just needed to open my eyes and see it.

My prayers slowly began to change. Instead of a new job with more money, I prayed that my husband would get a job that he could enjoy and utilize his education. Five years (to the month) after Greg was laid off, he was offered an engineering job at the company he had been working for. I prayed that I would draw closer to the Lord and learn to be content in my circumstances. I prayed that I would be able to provide the best life possible for my family within the means that He gave me. Gradually, my heart changed and I did become content. Of course, the Lord had a little chuckle, because Greg's new job did not come with the big pay raise that I had initially been hoping for. But I had found that place of contentment, and I was grateful for where the Lord had brought us.

The current economy had put a number of families into a tight financial crunch. But I'm not worried. I know He who clothes the flowers of the field, and He will make sure my family is cared for. We have learned a number of financial lessons over these years of difficulty, but this lesson has been by far the most important.

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink' or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more imporatant than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" 
~Matthew 6:25-26