A Test of Patience

Back at the end of January, we were surprised and excited to be approved to buy a house. I anticipated being moved by probably April or May, at the very latest. Apparently, my timing and God's aren't quite the same. Here we are, over five months later, having made offers on five different houses, and nothing in the works.

In the beginning, people said, "Oh, it's a great time to buy a house. It's a buyer's market!" As I mentioned previously, it's really not exactly a great time, it's a weird time. Our situation is also a little different than some, so that has added to the strangeness.

Typically, when I find out that I'm heading in a certain direction, I want it to happen and I want it to happen now! Or at least as soon as possible. Since I assumed we'd be moving fairly quickly, I put my life on hold. After all, why would I invest time in anything here and now? Just wait until we move, and then proceed with life. I didn't initially realize I was doing that, but as time went on and we had no contract or house to move to, I became frustrated. Not merely because we weren't moving, but I couldn't live my life, having put it into limbo.

God in His sweet and quiet love, kindly pointed out that His will is not for me to be so focused on where we may live, while completely neglecting the life He's given me today. In fact, in Psalm 118:24, He says,

"This is the day which the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."

And in James 4:13-15, He says,

"Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit'; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.'"

He's given me this moment of this day to live. He promises nothing further as far as life on this planet. The only future promise I have as a believer is eternity with Him. In the meantime, I have to trust that He has our best interests at heart. Even now I can look back over these five offers and see His hand at work:

1. The garage door at this house was probably not tall enough to accommodate our Jeep. Taking the hard top off and airing down the tires just to get it in the door is not very convenient.


2. While this house was right across the street from a best friend and our kids' best friends, and in the neighborhood we'd like to live in, there were some BIG sump pump problems within a couple weeks of the new owners moving in. The roto-rooter trucks (2 of them) were there for a very long time. We've "been there, done that" at our old house. No thank you.


3. Nothing particularly evident for this one, but that's okay. God is good. Always.


4. Our house payment would've been much too high, stretching us to a financial place we shouldn't be (and don't want to be).


5. The last house is a little further across town than we'd like to be ideally. Maybe God is going to let us live in the area we most want to be. We'll see.

Does that mean that I have to see the reasons behind why God does what He does in my life? No. He calls me to obey.

"Then Samuel said: 'Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold to obey is better than sacrifice.'" 1 Samuel 15:22

But I think He gives us a glimpse sometimes. There are a lot of things He doesn't really have to do, but He does, because He loves us and I believe He enjoys blessing us, encouraging us, building our faith, and sometimes, He just blows our socks off. Just because.

I know that He can be trusted. I know that He knows better than I do where we should live. So when an offer isn't accepted, I have to know that He really does have my life in His kind and loving will.


"Call to Me, and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you do not know." Jeremiah 33:3