God Doesn't Want Us to Be Comfortable

“But God doesn't call us to be comfortable. He calls us to trust Him so completely that we are unafraid to put ourselves in situations where we will be in trouble if He doesn't come through.” - Francis Chan

Have you noticed recently on Facebook how these random posts will come up on your news feed from pages that you've never heard of? And you think to yourself, hmm, I don't remember ever "liking" that page. Well you're right, you never "liked" that page. That's just a new way Facebook is advertising. People/companies can pay Facebook to add their statuses into your news feed and make it appear like it's a status from a page you've "liked" and therefore it makes it appear more valid. The way these ads appear is based on other pages you've "liked" or other information/details you've given Facebook about yourself. That way the ads are (usually) more relevant to you.

You're probably wondering, what the heck are you talking about Hart? You should go back to not writing on this blog because you make no sense. You've got some quote from Francis Chan at the top and then this off the wall babbling about Facebook and advertising. Well, here's why. That quote from Francis Chan "randomly" showed up on my news feed just now. Some facebook page I've never "liked" before posted that quote by Francis Chan and because I've "liked" Francis Chan on facebook it ended up showing up in my news feed. The reason I'm writing, and I chose to highlight that quote, is because that quote did not just "randomly" show up in my news feed. God knew that was the exact thing I needed to read in this exact moment.

You see, our life has felt a little crazy recently. As I'm sure you know, we are currently in the process of becoming Foster Parents. I'm excited about this new chapter. It took a while for God to get me there, but I'm excited about it and ready. Cai is nearing his 3rd birthday. He needs some other siblings in his life (even if these siblings are only temporary). This kid needs some other kids to play with. He needs to learn how to share. And his Momma needs Cai and his siblings to occupy each other so she can have a few minutes to breathe! Plus, God has given us a whole lotta love to give and we need to be pouring that love out. Who better to pour that love out on than these children who may not be getting loved on and definitely aren't getting a childhood? And lastly, I am confident that as these kids come and go, God is going to be using them to impact me more than I impact them.

Anyways, that was a random rabbit trail I went down. What I was getting at was this. We were initially told DSS would provide us with ABC vouchers for the foster children. For those who don't know, ABC vouchers are pretty much like coupons that allow you to send a child to daycare for free. That was going to be a huge blessing. I'm obviously gone Monday through Friday and Vanessa usually works 2 days a week. We honestly don't have the money to pay for childcare for these kids, so the ABC vouchers were going to be a big help. However, at our home study a week or so ago, our social worker dropped a bomb (dun dun dunnnnn!) Apparently in order for us to get the ABC vouchers both Vanessa and I had to be working full time. I'll be honest, when she said that, the 1st thought that went through my head was not some WWJD moment where I burst into praising God and considered it joy. It was 1 little word. "Cuh-rap". After she left I mentioned my concern to Vanessa. Vanessa was a little more upbeat and reminded me God would provide, but you know how it is in those moments. I "knew" He "could" provide, but my flesh was telling me He "wouldn't" and "you're screwed".

So, we're planning to bring more children into the home (which means more expenses), and now we've got to figure out childcare. DSS does give you a TINY bit of money each month to help cover some of the expenses, but now that's all probably going to be eaten up by the childcare. And add on top of that, a closing that was supposed to happen this Friday was all of a sudden not looking good.

Yep, one of Vanessa's room mates from college and her husband hired me to help them buy a house. After a few months of looking we found something. Things were rolling along quite smoothly. The part of a real estate transaction I least look forward to is the inspection. You learn quickly with inspections there's ALWAYS something wrong with a house. And you're always nervous it's going to be something BIG. And then you're nervous about going to the seller and asking them to repair things, because you don't know if that's their breaking point and they say no and the deal falls apart. Well, we got through the inspection, there was something big, but the seller was fine with fixing it. So silly me thought great, we're in the final stretch and that commission check I'm going to get is going to be awesome. Yeah...right.

Right around the time of this ABC voucher bomb I get a phone call finding out there's an issue with this closing. I can't go into details about it here, but it's something that could make this deal not happen. At the moment we've had to reschedule closing, and the person involved is assuring us it's going to be fine. But let's just say, we'll believe it when we see it. And so like that, a check I had (stupidly) already cashed in my head was gone.

So that brings me to the present. Life was feeling really crazy. It felt like I no longer had control. And as Vanessa reminded me last night, that's where God wants us. We so foolishly like to convince ourselves that we can have control of things. But we don't. Life and things can change in a second. And what you thought you had control of, what you thought was definite, is now an uncertainty spirally out of control.

But you know what is amazing about these moments? It's when God (for the infineteth time) shows off and reminds us He does in fact have control of all things. He reminds us that He does really know what our needs are and He delights in meeting our needs. He reminds us that He really is good and gracious and caring and merciful and giving and generous.

God does not want us to be comfortable. If you believe that about God then let me tell you, you've been sold a lie and you believe in a made up god. There's no where in scripture that God promises a life of ease and comfort here on this earth (the life of comfort and ease is waiting for those in Christ in Heaven). Sure, He is gracious and allows us those moments, but although I've never counted, I'd be willing to bet He makes more promises throughout the Bible of us facing trials and persecution more than us having comforts and ease. For it's in these moments when God allows for the distractions of this world to fade, and all of a sudden He becomes so much more real to us. It's in those moments where we realize the promises the world has made us are just a bunch of lies and we are reminded that God has, does and will continue keeping the promises He has made us. It is so easy to lose sight of God in moments of comfort.

As I've said, it's in these moments God really shows off and just blows us away. This morning I was reading the Daily Devotional in the Mars Hill app. Today's devotion was called "Tell the Mighty Works" and was based on Acts 2:11 which says "We hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God." In a nutshell this devotion was saying when we're excited about something we can't wait to tell other people about it. If God really is our joy, then why aren't we sharing with others about Him and the amazing and mighty works He does!?

The last couple of days, God has been doing some mighty works and has been blowing us away. And when I read that devotional this morning I thought, we need to share how God has been showing off recently. So here goes...

First - We've got some really exciting news that we can't share yet. (No we're not pregnant). But due to the timing of some things we just don't want to advertise this for all the world to see. But let me just say that back in May Vanessa and I committed to prayer for God to move in this one area. We were asking him to resolve this issue by the end of June. Well He laughed at us and said I can do you one better, and resolved it at the beginning of June! We'll probably reveal this exciting news in July.

Second - This next one is pretty huge too. (Edited 6.13.13) When I originally posted this article I gave more details about this blessing. However, after talking with Vanessa last night we decided we shouldn't give a ton of details on this because we're not sure if we're supposed to be publicizing this. You remember that ABC voucher bomb that I freaked out over? Well, let's just say that God said, don't worry, I got that taken care of too. Yep. If/when we have foster care children, childcare expense is being taken care of.

Third - Obviously having a child means we've already got a lot of the items we need for future children. But there are some big items we would need. 1 big one is a double stroller. And guess what? Someone Vanessa knows is giving us theirs because they no longer need it. And you know what else? It's the exact one Vanessa had on her wish list. On top of that, we've had a lot of other friends offer us lots of those other items we might need.

Fourth - The Lord has provided us with some random opportunities here and there to make some extra money since we can't rely on that commission check for now.

It's been incredible how God has been providing these past few days. I saw that commission check as my ticket to security. God said "you're looking to the wrong thing for security. And to prove it, let me shake up your world." Well He shook up our world alright. But He doesn't shake up our world because He's weird and twisted. It's because He knows that the things of this world WILL ALWAYS FAIL US! They will not provide the security we hope for. They will not provide the pleasure and satisfaction we long for. Only He can provide those things. But the only way we can experience that is to have our eyes fixed on Him. So when He shakes up our world He's doing it for our own good. He's doing it out of love. He's doing it so that those things we are putting our hope in are stripped away and we have to cling to Him. It's only then we will find joy and peace.

Thanks for letting me share. I hope y'all are well! Feel free to comment with ways we can pray for you!