God retaught me a lesson this week. I say "retaught" because, gosh, I am a slow learner.
Our family has been praying and praying for God to send us a blessing. We needed to sell our fireworks stand. See, I have MS (Multiple Sclerosis) and heat affects the disease. I am the one who usually sits in the fireworks stand every day during the season. It gets wicked hot there. I work the stand and my husband sleeps there overnight to make sure no one breaks in. The arrangement worked for us, that is, until MS reared its ugly head.
We knew that this year there was no way that I could work the stand. We also knew that we did not have any money to even purchase fireworks this year. We decided to sell our stand and use the money to rent a building to sell fireworks out of and to purchase this years fireworks inventory. We had the plan and now just needed a buyer. I listed the stand for sale in Dallas, Tulsa, McAlester and Ft. Smith. We received a lot of spam offers and a few people who seemed interested. But no go.
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| Our Fireworks stand |
We were on a deadline. Fireworks season begins June 15th and we had less than a month to go. We prayed and prayed and prayed. I got so depressed and angry. I knew God had always helped us. I also knew that God sometimes says no but we had been praying that if the answer was no or if this was not meant to be, to speak to our hearts and let us know. My hubby and I were only getting "This is what will happen".
On one of my worst nights, I was distraught. On Thursday night, with 3 weeks to go before the season, with only days before I had to put in my fireworks order, I crumbled. I was angry. I almost gave up but then something happened. My eyes and heart opened up and I realized (again) that I was doing it wrong.
I started out right. I prayed for God's guidance. I prayed for His will. I prayed for Him to help us but along the way, I started (unintentionally) of wanting God to do it on a timeline. I had a set date in my mind and God needed to meet that deadline. Boy, I was wrong and at that moment, I realized it. I prayed to God to forgive me. I vowed to surrender to Him and He would do it if and when He was ready and I accepted that. I started writing out verses and feelings into a notebook: "God's time--not my time. Be patient. God's will. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not to your own understanding. My God shall supply all your needs! Our God is an awesome God! I have nothing to fear for God is with me. If God be for me it doesn't matter who is against me!"
The very NEXT day, I checked emails and a man from Texas wanted to buy our stand. Hallelujah! Praise God. I just had to surrender to the Lord and He answered me in a big way. On Saturday, we met the gentleman and his father. Really nice people. They offered what they could afford and we accepted. It was less than what we wanted but exactly what we needed!
Needless to say, we have rented the building. Electricity gets turned on Tuesday. Fireworks inventory on the way. Phone service will be on Thursday with plenty of time before season opening. Can you say "Praise God"?!
The gentleman who bought the stand, well his wife is in the hospital and has been since mid-April. Please pray for her full recovery. And thank you for allowing me to share my praise report!
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