BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE

Oh my goodness I love mountains.  They inspire me and make me stand in awe.  They are majestic and they can be a bit intimidating, especially if you're a climber.  I am not a climber but I just love staring at mountains.  Whether they are snow covered, covered with tall pine trees or desert mountains I love mountains.  There is something powerful about mountains, not sure if it their size or just the looks of them.   I've seen many different mountains over the years and what intrigues me about these desert mountains is the fact that in between the rocks a cactus or other type of foliage will arise.  It may seem like the most inappropriate spot between a rock and a hard place, but life will spring forth.  

"Between a rock and a hard place"...how many times have we described our lives this way?  When times are tough financially and there isn't enough money to pay the bills, doubt and fear fill our mind.  Worry sets in and we begin to struggle with our faith.  We fear the worst and plan in our minds what's gonna happen.  We plan for a future that looks bleak.  Our thoughts begin to wonder and we become desperate to figure out what to do and how to do it.  It seems impossible to imagine that we will get out of this financial hole we've dug ourselves into.  Physically all this stress and worry begins to take it's toll on us so this "between a rock and a hard place" gets even worse.  We don't sleep, we can't rest, we can't even enjoy the little things in life because we're too stressed out.  Sound familiar?

 I won't lie here because I've experienced it and have seen it even in the lives of so many people, even pastors and biblical scholars.  It may seem hard to believe but us Christians, people who are supposed to know better, fall into this category.  We forget the promises of God.  We forget that He will work all things out for our good.  We forget the miracles He performed for us in the past.  All we see is that the bottom line is not good and we do not have control of the situation.  We feel hopeless and restless.  We can't fix it, we can't make it all go away, we can't wave a magic wand and make our hard times vanish.  How can we believers fall for this trap of the enemy? 

We're humans and we loose our focus.  We forget that God is in control, if we let Him.  We lack the faith we need to totally surrender our finances to Him.  That's right God wants to be in control of your finances.  After all He is the best financial adviser there is.  He knows the future better than anyone else.  He knows what His plans are for us, yet we doubt.  We hang on with clenched fists holding on tight to every single penny we can.  God has more important things to concentrate on than our finances.  Oh how little faith we have.  It's easy to talk about it, preach about and study about it, but it's hard to live with it.  Yet, God's promises are all over the Bible.  We read it but do we really believe it?  Our faith in God and His promises (I believe) will determine our life here on earth.  Will we live in peace and joy no matter what our circumstances are?  Will we trust that God knows better than we do?  Will we have faith in God the size of a small mustard seed?  

Matthew 17:20 (The Passion Translation) "It was because of your lack of faith.  I promise you, if you have faith inside of you no bigger than the size of a small mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move away from here and go over there,' and you will see it move!  There is nothing you couldn't do!

Our faith and trust in God is critical.  We have to release our clenched fists and open up our hands to receive God's promises.  We have to stop worrying and stop stressing.  We need to rely on God to move the mountains, yes even the financial mountain of debt we may have.  God is still in the miracle working business as far as I am concerned.  But we can't receive His blessings or His promises with clenched fists.  We need to let go and surrender our financial future to God.  Sound scary?  It is.  

In 2007 we risked our entire financial future in a hope and dream God gave Jerry.  We put our faith and trust in Him at a time businesses were declaring bankruptcy and closing their doors.  We took a chance and relied on His promises and trusted He would work it all out for our good.  We had faith the size of a mustard seed and He did not fail us.  He moved financial mountains that only He could move.  It was not about something we did, He did it all and we give all honor and glory to Him!  It was the scariest thing we have ever done.  Our faith was tested to the max and God rewarded our faith.  Do you have a financial mountain that needs to be moved?  Pray.  Trust.  Have faith in God and rely on Him!  Then do what you must but enjoy your life and give thanks for the power He has to move mountains and sit back and watch the Glory of God work a miracle.