THINGS I'M PONDERING IN MY MIND

I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were

not yet ready for it.  (1 Corinthians 3:2a, NIV)

After being out of debt for many years my finances took a turn south, and no matter how hard I've tried to work my way out of it, I feel as though I'm sinking deeper and deeper into a bottomless pit.

For quite some time now I've been praying for the Lord to show me what I need to see, or what it is that He is tryng to teach me through this very challenging season.  I pray for Him to help me understand why back in the day, bible verses such as Malachi 3:10 and Luke 6:38 were so easy to believe--a crumpled $20 bill on my way out of a store, an unexpected check in the mail, a huge tip on a small job, a quarter in the middle of a puddle when I stepped out of my car and realized I had no change to feed the meter with. Back then it was much easier to have strong faith that did not waver.

I have heard it said that life is like a classroom, and the trials and challenges that come our way are like the tests we are given in school to monitor our progress. As we get promoted to the next grade, the tests get harder. From that perspective, maybe back then, like the verse I quoted above says, I still needed to be fed milk to grow my faith and was not yet ready for solid food.

As if to confirm that thought, I came across a post I had written way back in 2011 while searching for something (unrelated to this post) on my blog. It was a post I didn't even remember having written, entitled His Grace Is Sufficient For Me, that started with a quote by F. B. Meyer--"...whenever our earthly stream or any other outer resource has dried up, it has been allowed so we may learn that our hope and help are in God, who made heaven and earth." 

The Lord still makes a way where there seems to be no way, even if it's not the way I would prefer. The bills get paid on time, and my immediate needs are met, but not as dramatically as they were in those early days when my debt would probably have been paid off as well. 

That old post reminded me to keep my eyes on the Lord and put my full trust in Him and in His perfect timing instead of trying to make things happen in my own strength and in the way I think they should. It reassured me that when I have mastered my current lesson and passed the test, I will be delivered out of my temporary pit.