Silver Trumpets : Surrender & Surprise Blessings

I have been reading the story of Joseph over the past few days. One area of his character that amazes me is his trust. He got to a place of confidence in his life. In situations most people would see as only horrible, he saw that God was working through them and that they happened for a divine purpose.

A challenge for me is to go into my "frustrating" situations with that same full trust even though my problems are not near as serious as Joseph's. But God is teaching me. For example, like many homeowners - I have the nagging stress of maintenance. Trees need to be chopped down, fences mended, shower tile sealed, sink leaks corrected...etc.

These house problems (and other general situations of life) pop up and "whisper" to me, "You've gotta fix this!" However, there has been a prayer that I've been praying again lately that has brought me a lot of peace. During that recent huge wind storm which boasted 70 mph winds, the power was out and I was sitting in my dark living room on the floor. I prayed, "God, I can't protect our home from these winds. They are two big for me. If you want the house to not be damaged then you'll have to be the one to take care of it." This prayer of surrender has helped my heart with ALL the crazy situations that have come into my life lately.

"What? There is a chance of losing my job or being asked to drive to a location 30 minutes away to keep it? God, I'm working my hardest but if you want me to have this job, then it's gotta be you that works out the situation." God's answer - done.

"Taking that rotted tree down and cutting the stump out will cost $700?!? God, I don't have that money. It's too big for me - I can't protect the house from that tree or take it down. I'll do what I can but it's going to have to be you that finds a way." God's answer - done.

"God, my fences are really needing repair and I just can't take care of it now with all my medical bill expenses ...It'll have to just wait unless you find a way." God's answer - done.

"God I can't afford to fix the backyard's drainage problem by adding grass. Grass is too expensive. It'll have to wait until next year's budget." God's answer - done - now. :)

These are just faith building situations. God has been using them so that when situations come up where the answer is less obvious I can look back and trust. (Like, "God, I've shared my faith and your Word with that person but I can't save them. It's gotta be you that works in their life."

My job drama? Well, going into details would create a longer story but I can say that God took that drama "off the table" right now faster than anyone would have thought. Also, I came home a few weeks ago and my rotten fence was gone! The builder had decided to replace it for the new home that was just built behind my house. I got a new, FREE fence. Dad and I were able to remove the tree ourselves (totally with God's powerful arm reaching down to help and protect us because it took us at least 9 hrs). While we were out there working (on a Wed.) a young man got our attention through the fence and said, "Hey, we have a 1/2 pallet of grass back here that we can't use for this new house...would you like it?" Dad and I just looked at each other, jumped in his truck and now my drainage area is fixed (plus I was able to pay it forward but giving the remaining grass squares to a coworker's son who needed it.)

My point is not, pray this prayer and God will fix all your problems. My point is that I prayed this prayer and was brought to a place of peace. God just decided in these situations to fix the problems too. And for those amazing blessings I'm grateful. I see God working and can say with boldness too like Joseph did in Genesis 45 that it was God working. And even more - I'm thankful for the blessing of peace these prayers of surrender have provided to my heart.