(Previously Published on Mrs Words Blog)
God is so faithful! Yes! He is!
Firstly, I just want to give you the heads-up that this is probably going to be a long post, ‘cos there is just so much to share about the faithfulness of our God. Here goes:
It’s been 12 months now since I handed my resignation in at my job in order to pursue my love of writing. Twelve months since I broke the news to my boss that I was leaving and starting a whole new season. Did I know what I was getting myself in for? Absolutely not, but wow, has it been worth it? Yes, so very worth it!
Five years ago, at the end of 2012, my husband and I packed up our rental home of nine years, in Melbourne’s Western Suburbs, into a container. We gave away all the surplus and extra things that we had gathered. We left our trusty family vehicle in a relatives care. We packed up our suitcases, our four children and we got on a plane and took a five month detour to New Zealand, with our ultimate destination being Queensland, Australia. We arrived in Queensland on the 21st of May 2013.
Ultimately, we moved for work. We were employed and commissioned by my Uncle’s company to open a production facility in Queensland and we were raring to go. My husband and I had been working together in our own business, as domestic (home) builders, for most of our marriage, so we weren’t new to the concept. We were very keen and excited to explore this new industry (manufacturing) and maximise our skills whilst working together in a completely new environment. And it was a dream!
I mean, we had our moments and it was incredibly difficult at times, but we both gave our everything, including blood, sweat and tears (literally) and after a short time, we were up and running and seeing some great results. We loved it! We travelled along relatively smoothly for a good three and a half years and quickly grew to love Queensland and all that it had to offer. We found our place here. Hillsong Church became our home and the children were flourishing at School and each one found their individual place at Church. Friendships were blossoming all around. We were indeed at home.
Just before our forth year anniversary in Queensland, things kind of came unstuck and we roared headlong to a grinding holt at work. On our return from a short holiday, both my husband and I were promptly demoted. Wow! Talk about taking the wind out of our sails.We were shocked, stumped and seriously floundering. I won’t go into all the details here, but suffice it to say that God was up to something, we just hadn’t clued into it yet.
After a few months of floating at work, not knowing what the future held and not even knowing if my job was going to continue, we headed off to Hillsong Conference as a family. And it was there that God spoke so clearly to me about pursuing my gift and being faithful to use what He had placed in my hands. He enabled me to see that He was making a way for my dream/our dreams to become possibilities. On the long drive home from Sydney to Queensland, I shared my revelation, my thoughts and dreams with my husband and told him I had a radical idea.
I shared that I wanted to write – this wasn’t a new thing, he had heard this many times before – but this time, I told him I was serious about it. I was so sure that he wouldn’t be on-board with me not working but I felt so strongly about it that I mentioned it as a hypothetical suggestion to see how he would respond. Well, colour me surprised when he agreed with my suggestion for me to not work but to write. God had already been doing a work in preparing him for this idea too. Then, he asked what we would do for income. And this is where the rubber hits the road and reality sinks in.
You see, I was on a pretty good wage and with both of us earning a full-time wage for the first time in our marriage (we had previously been self-employed with me working part-time as well), we had grown used to living a certain way. We had a vacant block of land that we were hoping to build on, our children were attending a private school, we were living quite fancy free, but we had a significant credit card debt. Reality was, the figures were just not going to balance with me not working.
But God! God had it all planned and worked out. He would make a way. I didn’t have the answers to give my husband that day, as we were driving home and dreaming about the possibilities, but I set my heart to prayer. I believed that I had heard so clearly from God about pursuing writing that I didn’t want to pass the opportunity over. So, I prayed about our finances and for God to make a way. A few days later, it dawned on me, that if we sell the land for a certain amount, that would cover all our debts and then we could comfortably live off one income.
I broached the subject with my husband, again expecting a straight out “no way!”, but again, he agreed. I didn’t have to convince or cajole him. I didn’t have to fight or push my point. He simply listened, thought for a moment and then agreed. It was seamless, effortless and completely unexpected. Again, God had prepared him for the possibility. So, with that all planned out and agreed upon, we decided to take the plunge, trust God and resign from my job.
It was twelve months ago, last week, since I handed my resignation in. I worked for a few more months to hand over my roles, share all the information and knowledge about the job that I could and in September 2017, I stopped work to write. We put our land on the market straight away in July, but we didn’t have any serious bites – yet, I still believed that it would all work out. God had promised and He would make a way!
September 2017 – it was incredibly hard for me to adjust to not working. I was walking the very thin line towards depression and feeling absolutely useless, yet, somehow feeling excited about the future and the opportunities ahead. I loved being present and available for my children though and catching up with my friends during the week almost felt sinful, because I can’t remember ever being able to do that. Also, watching TV or reading uninterrupted while the kids were at school was simply delightful. The bank account, however, was slowly dwindling away and life as I knew it was so completely different, I was struggling to keep my head above water.
By December 2017, we still hadn’t had any serious bites on the sale of our block of land and finances were becoming pretty stretched. I wasn’t looking forward to Christmas at all. I was starting to seriously doubt that I was doing the right thing and wondering if I had actually heard from God for real. In one of my more frustrated moments, I remember breaking down before God in my prayer time and crying out “God, you said! You told me to use my gift and you said you would provide. You said you would make a way. I can’t do this anymore, I can’t make the bills this week, I can’t buy special groceries for Christmas, I can’t buy gifts for the kids, I can’t make the figures balance, I can’t make it work and I can’t write when the finances aren’t working because it’s too much pressure. God, if I heard from you correctly and I’m doing what you asked me to do, then you need to do your part and make it work. Please provide as you promised you would.”
Well, I think that God was waiting for me to finally surrender to Him. Ever since that prayer, He has stepped in and provided in ways that we could never have imagined. We were given food hampers and the children were given gifts for Christmas; we were invited out to meals when we had nothing left in our cupboards; the children were offered lifts to events that we couldn’t get them to because we had no spare fuel in the car; all four children were sponsored so that they could attend Summer Camps at Church; we were blessed with food to take home to cover the next few meals and yet no one knew that we were struggling. We didn’t say anything to anyone about where we were really at. But God knew, and He provided.
In early January, we received an offer on our land for the amount that we needed. I was able to come to arrangements with all our bills/accounts/finances that were so incredibly ridiculous, it didn’t make any sense that they would agree to what I was proposing, but God’s favour was on us and God made a way.
Over the past few months, friends have popped money into our bank account unexpectedly; cash has been placed in my hand, in random places by random people; someone turned up to our house with their car full (literally full to the brim) of groceries and gift cards; more food was given to us unexpectedly; more invites out to meals when we had nothing left in our cupboards; the kids school community started helping us out with random people covering camp payments and supplying meals and groceries; some small cheques arrived in the mail for some over-payments that we had supposedly made; I was asked to do some truck-trips which brought in extra money exactly when needed; my husband started getting paid over-time for the first time ever; and the blessings keep rolling in.
The land settled at the end of March after quite a few delays (but that’s a story for another day), and with the proceeds, we were able to pay off all our debts including our significant credit card debt. Yay! I sit here writing today about God’s faithfulness because even though I am not working and we are a family of six, living on one income, we are debt free. For the first time in our married lives (just gone 18 years now), we have no debt hanging over us. I am not working, I am pursuing my love of writing and God has done as He has promised. He said He would provide and He has! He said He would make a way and He did! Far beyond our wildest imaginings. And He’s not finished with us yet. Our God is so faithful!
Dear friend, I’m not writing this to brag or to make you envious or for any other reason than to encourage you. If God said it, He will do it! If you are holding on to a promise from God and wondering when it will come to pass, or if it will ever happen, I want to put my arm around you and give you a gentle nudge and tell you to just hold on and to trust Him. God is faithful! He can and will make a way when there seems to be no way. He can and will open doors that you need to be opened. He can and will provide. He can and will give you the desires of your heart. He is faithful!
1 Thessalonians 5:24 tells us “The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.” God keeps His promises. He calls you and He enables you and He will provide for you. I’m living in His promise today, in this very moment and I will testify, He is faithful! God is so faithful and I am so grateful!
