It is most likely that many of us will experience one kind of storm or another, and our faith will be challenged. But God, Who is amazingly faithful promised us in Hebrews 13:5 when He said, “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.'” Can we even imagine what this water tight guarantee would be like to experience.
Back in approximately 1980, at the age of thirty six I experienced a crushing blow to my ego. Here I was with a beautiful wife and two gorgeous children, I was fully employed, and nearing completion of new home which was owner built. I worked in a timber yard, managing the production of timber house frames and roof trusses. Life was good, sales were booming, money was more than adequate, but life was not quite all that it could be. God was not the centre of who I was. I was actively involved in my church, to me God was real, and yet I tended to hold Him at arm’s length.
Then one morning as I arrived at work something told me life was about to change, and change dramatically. The receivers were standing on our doorstep, and I was no longer in charge of my destiny. As the following days unfolded, I became aware that the home I had laboured so tirelessly to build was going to have to be sold to pay some of my employers debts. There was absolutely no way out of this situation, and legal advice only confirmed what had become so obvious.
I can remember wandering off into our production yard and standing between towering stacks of timber, and pouring my heart out to God, asking why. And God, in His awesome love and tenderness spoke to me saying, What have you lost, a pile of bricks and mortar, I’ve got you covered, I’ve already prepared a mansion up here, it’s beyond what you could even imagine, and oh, by the way, it’s located on a street paved with pure transparent gold.
Over the ensuing months life became one miracle after another as God provided life’s necessities, and never once did God fail me. God’s timing has always been perfect, and just on time. Today, I can honestly say, I am more in love with Jesus than ever, and I trust Him implicitly, even when the storms of life try to blot out His image from me. Above every storm cloud, the sun is still shinning, and in every storm challenge in life, the Son is still shining.
Thank you so much for continuing to hold Jesus high amidst a world who largely claims He does not exist. He does exist, and soon, we shall see Him in the clouds of Heaven just as He promised. It is my desire and daily prayer that God will keep us faithful right to the end.
God Bless,
Warren Hicks