God doesn’t live in your mail box

Sounds strange right? 

It’s just 2 days until we have the grand opening for Chandler Life Church. I’m looking back at the last year and remembering some of the major internal hurdles I’ve had to overcome. One of the biggest has been trust and faith in God. Some may think pastors are immune to doubt and unbelief, but let me assure you we are not.

We picked up from everything we had ever known and moved to a brand new community in hopes to start a brand new church. Seemed easy when I was planning it all out a year ago. Sure, I knew it would have moments of discomfort but I was a pro, a seasoned ministry veteran lol. Boy was I in for a surprise!

Don’t get me wrong we are having the most fun we have ever had. Our family is closer than ever, my faith in God is at an all time high. Bu,t wow, have we been stretched spiritually, soulishly and financially. Its the latter that I want to talk about today. You see every dream has a financial price tag. I grew up quoting “His will His bill.”  Or “He gives provision for the vision.”  These are all true and I can tell you God has met our needs big time!

But the title of this blog is, God doesn’t live in your mail box. I’ll never forget it. We were in a bad spot financially and I had picked up this habit of racing to our mail box and the post office box daily. I knew exactly when the mail was delivered because I was sure there was a check in the mail that was going to meet our church’s need. I had been doing this for weeks when one day I was walking out to the mail box I heard the Holy Spirit whisper “I am not limited to meeting your need through a mail box.”

I was confronted with the ugly truth that I wasn’t really trusting God-I was living nervous and stressed out. It gets worse. I don’t know if this has happened to other pastors but the Holy Spirit quoted me from a message I had taught 6 months earlier. I heard myself say “God doesn’t ask us to do hard things to prove we are able but to show He is able!”  Then I heard the Holy Spirit say “Do you still believe?”

What a humbling moment! I want to encourage any person reading this. To any one who has a dream, to anyone out there that is attempting to build something new, to anyone in the middle of the battle YOU CAN TRUST GOD! Not only can you trust Him but He will meet your needs! After Lazarus died, Jesus asked Mary and Martha if they still believed. He is still asking us that question. Do you believe? He’s bigger than how you think He will meet the need. Let Him do His thing!

Here is a verse that will encourage you to let God do His thing.The LORD directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way? (Proverbs 20:24 NLT)