How God uses the little setbacks
It is very common for me to share the regular happenings of my life and things God is showing me with those in close proximity of this season. But last night I shared this with Taylor and he challenged me to take time and share here because someone else may need this as much as I did.
Over the last couple of years since we moved into our new home it’s been an adjustment to grow into a new place, new season. Where there is expansion, there is always growth and development in not only in a physical sense but in our mindsets too.
Everyone expects to put the “work” in to get to the next season and achieve the goal. But a lot of times we forget that once the territory is gained and you are standing in the promise there is still “work” to be done. You have to defend the “promise”.
But it’s not what you think. Or at least, I learned this week the way I was coming at it wasn’t the beneficial way.
Have you ever been blindsided by something you didn’t see coming and you feel the enemy is trying to take something that God said was yours?
I’ve learned in prior seasons to rally, suit up and go to war for something in faith I know is mine and contend for it. I’ve learned how to combat with scripture and I know the enemy has to pay back what he’s stolen and all of that.
But what if it keeps happening to the point where it feels like from every angle there’s a siphoning happening.
Like a visual picture where there was one hole poked in a pipe and water comes gushing out of a wall so you go to plug it and then 10 other holes get poked and you can’t possibly hold all of them shut at once. And this is where the real lesson has been learned for me.
I do believe we should fight for the territory but I had the strategy all wrong. And I got a perspective that changed everything.
These 2 years have felt like an onslaught since getting into this house. But in the last 6 months it’s felt like it’s intensified with thing after thing—unexpected ER visits/hospital bills, one of us was hit by an uninsured driver and then insurance wouldn’t cover thousands of dollars of work that needed to happen, our pool house flooded and we didn’t know for weeks so it molded and we had to gut the entire thing and have mold mitigation and repairs done and the deductible was so high we ended up paying for the whole thing out of pocket, a tiny pump part on our HVAC was broken and just over warranty so we had to replace it—thousands of dollars here and there and every where, random things that we had always had favor in before and suddenly it started all racking up.
At first I was combating like is there anything we are doing to cause this? Then we started praying into it and demanding that the enemy pay us back 7 times what he owes. And all of that is fine but here’s the download God gave me yesterday while I was driving.
“Lindsey, can I give you a different perspective?” Yes!
“There are other people that are praying for provision and work and miracles in their finances. Some are growing new businesses and some are really struggling and fighting to stay afloat. You have always prayed I would use you as a channel for my kingdom. So I am.
Every time something breaks or blindsides, look deeper and see how I have taken care of you-instead of seeing it as a siphoning from the enemy, see how I am deploying the resources to give sub contractors work for two weeks, see how I paid that guy’s mortgage in the small mold mitigation business for the month.
See how when they come here and work for the day they get to experience the peace the fills your home and your land. See how when you and Taylor were in the ER they saw you come in one way and you remained seated in rest when it normally feels like chaos and how the nursing staff watched restoration come and just as quickly as you came in you were gone when it didn’t make sense.
See how those conversations waiting in the car dealership changed that young man’s perspective by the way you guys carry yourselves when others lose their peace. See how I replenished you more this week in your businesses for all of the losses.
Get my heart on this. STOP giving the enemy so much credit and attention.”
”“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8
When we get God’s heart on something, we understand we do not live in lack, that even if the enemy did steal, he has no power and God will use it for good AND bring provision and tons more blessing!
But the more He replenishes us the more excited I am getting to see how he will use that to help someone else. We have always been generous when lead to give, but when it’s “taken” how do we respond? Out of lack or abundance, it’s all His anyway and he will always take care of us. He’s dependable and true. And he loves all of his kids.
I’m learning more and more Ephesians 2:6-7 how to stay seated next to Him from a place of perfect love instead of striving to earn it in my own strength. This is getting long, but I hope today this encourages someone else.
❤️