Ever Doubted God?

Have you ever laughed at God? I don’t mean the 'haha' kind of laugh, I mean the kind of laugh from thinking, “You have got to be kidding. There is no way that can happen. I must have heard you wrong”! I would like to say I have never had those thoughts, but there have been several times I have felt overwhelmed by what God was saying. Dwayne and I have had many times in our life where God called us to take steps of faith (usually felt like leaps to me) . Some of those steps of faith were:

• Walking away from the life we knew and being willing to follow God’s plan for us by serving Him in the ministry. (FYI- it has been a journey and a blessing beyond words)
• Selling our first home, packing up two children and moving to married housing for Dwayne to attend seminary. (FYI – The best of times, the worst of times, but what a preparation for the ministry and some amazing forever friends)
• Moving our family to a place we had never been, where we knew nobody, we had no place to live, and we were to create and grow a new church we later named South Hills, and built in Montana City, Montana. (FYI- It was seven years and was home to us for all seven years. It served as the core of our children’s childhood, the core of our ministry’s childhood, and a place that gave us a core of friends who walked with us down some amazing paths of God growing our faith that has bonded our hearts for eternity. South Hills is standing strong and is now over 15 years old and debt free)
• Standing beside my husband when he is faithful to be obedient to God and lead a church body to do what doesn’t make sense in the eyes of men. Like building a church when God says begin now, in the onset of a Montana winter, without the full balance of the projected cost in the bank, and no building groups scheduled which is supposed to be done a year in advance. (FYI- building was done by February, with help from plenty of building groups, and money and funding miraculously provided)
• Moving our family back to Oklahoma, to a hurting church which meant; leaving the church we loved and nurtured in Montana and watched grow into their first beautiful building, moving our children during their high school years, and not being able to sell our home in Montana (We grew in our new church and I saw God work in my women's Sunday School in a way that will never be able to be duplicated, He sold our home in His perfect timing, and both Bryce and Brittne has confirmed that looking back, it was a needed move for them, plus Bryce’s wife was waiting for him in Fort Gibson)
• Trusting that we and our children would survive their teenage years and they would claim for themselves their roots of faith. (FYI- we did and they have)
• Following God calling us to leave a church which had been good to us to plant another church and to do so in a new way to reach unchurched, young adults. God had us commit to His calling before we had a plan, a location, financial help, or people willing to come along side to work towards God's given vision. (FYI – Have a growing church that is a place where all feel welcomed, and lives are touched and changed)

Each time, it seemed God was telling us something beyond our comprehension. Yet each time God worked beyond my fear and doubt and blessed me when my faith didn’t merit it. Yesterday, I told you how Zachariah and Elizabeth had wanted a child their whole life and when they were old and pass childbearing years, God answered their prayers and they gave birth to a child God named John. We know him as John the Baptist. I did skip a part in the middle of the story though. When Zachariah entered the Holy of Holies, and the angel appeared to him, he froze in fear. The angel told him not to fear and that God had heard their prayers and Elizabeth would have a child, a son. The angel said they were to name him John and he would achieve great stature with God. The angel said John would turn many Israelites back to God! Zachariah questions the angel and said, “Do you expect me to believe this? We are too old to have a baby!" The angel was Gabriel and he proceeded to tell Zachariah that because he wouldn’t believe God, he would not be able to speak until the baby was born. Zachariah did not speak from then until the birth of John. Yet God worked beyond his fear and doubt and blessed Zachariah even when his faith didn’t merit it. He became the father of the greatest born among men. The Holy Spirit filled Zachariah and he prophesied of God and his newly born son.
I am so thankful that God pours grace on us and He blesses us even when it is not merited due to our fear, our doubt, and lack of faith. God is sovereign and His plan and character cannot be changed by what we do or not do. God is not diminished by our weaknesses. We are the ones that experience the consequences. We rob our self of the blessing of peace which comes from complete trust and faith in the words and plans of God. We can experience peace throughout the fulfillment of His plan by standing firm with unwavering trust. Or, we can live with fear, worry, and doubt. But when God fulfills His plan and we see the blessing of that fulfillment, we will regret all the time we wasted and the lack of peace we experienced because we didn’t trust Him! The next time God tells you to do something that seems beyond your comprehension, remember the God you proclaim to trust is in the business of doing the incomprehensible. The birth of Jesus is incomprehensible yet God did the incomprehensible and He still does the incomprehensible in the lives of His children.

And the angel replied to him. I am Gabriel, I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to talk to you and to bring you this good news. Now behold, you will be silent and will continue to be silent and not able to speak until the day when these things take place, because you have not believed what I told you; but my words are of a kind which will be fulfilled in the appointed and proper time.
Luke 1: 20 and 21