I’m sure many of you have wondered where we have been and why there haven’t been many updates from us. We have unfortunately had delay after delay on the house since the New Year. We are further behind than anticipated. We expected the house to be complete and at least up for sale by now, if not already sold, and that hasn’t happened. Truth be told, I haven’t really known where to start when writing about it because we have just both been overwhelmed. God is good, though. He is a faithful God. In every delay, there has been something new he has been teaching us and showing us to prepare us for what’s ahead.
The thing I have battled the most during these multiple delays is fear and anxiety. Not so much fear and anxiety about going, but about missing the opportunity before us. I don’t want to be one of those people who were called, and never went. I want to accomplish all that He has for me. There is a church not far from where I live, and I pass it twice a day on my journey to and from work. They have a sign up that says “Don’t let anxiety displace your faith in God.” I’ll be the first to admit that I have had anxiety about missing it, about being too late. My response has been to try and rush the process along, and that’s probably one of the reasons we have faced so many delays! God has been pushing me to lay this down. My prayer for the past month has been, “Lord, help my unbelief!”, and in praying that, He has shown me that while I might have given up control of certain parts of planning for the UK, I still haven’t yet given Him complete and total control in other parts. It finally hit me that I don’t fully trust Him quite like I thought I did. I may say I trust Him, but do I really? If I truly trusted Him, I wouldn’t be full of anxiety about the situation. I wouldn’t still be trying to make it all happen. I have to learn to trust and rely on Him that his timing is perfect. He will take care of it all, not just the details of our going, what we will do for Visas, and support, etc., but also for all the other stuff. He will work out ALL the details. He already knows, and He has it all figured out. My only responsibility in it, is to rest and trust, and walk out each step of faith that He puts before me. So I now pray, “God, I relinquish control of the situation, and trust you in this process. I know you have got us, so I need to trust and wait and rest in You.” My heartfelt desire is to be able to trust Him with everything I have in me, I know it is in His perfect timing and His perfect will. It will come. I just have to have faith. When I pray that, and I focus on Him, then all that fear and anxiety goes away. If there are places where you are struggling with fear or anxiety about right now, give God back control. He is the master planner! He takes care of it all, we don’t have to struggle to make it happen, or fight our own battles. He does it for us. Our biggest victories come when we rest in the knowledge of who He is, and what He has done for us.
God is our sustainer, too. He doesn’t leave us out here hanging by a thread until we are perfect. He uses us in our imperfection. Even though we haven’t yet made it to the UK, God has already been using us to spread His love and His freedom. We had the opportunity to minister recently at Inspiration Church here in South Carolina, and the Lord moved mightily! We saw many people released into a new freedom in the Lord, and many chains were broken in the spirit. We just received word last night from the church that their services have not been the same since! God is surely doing a work there, and in all of us! It excites us for the future ahead! We thank the Lord for His goodness to us, even in the midst of this transition!
I promise to keep you all posted better in the future! We are still making plans to move, and move soon. Our house is nearing the final stages, so it will hopefully, prayerfully, be on the market soon!
We love you all and we covet your prayers for us on this journey!
- Tonya