“God, I can’t live like this anymore!!! I’ll change, I promise. If you’ll give me a second chance, I’ll change how I’ve been living.”
I had been stuck in a chair for over two weeks with my back messed up. I could barely struggle to my feet. Months went by, and it only grew worse; I was forty-two years old, and walking with the limp of an elderly woman. I had arthritis settling into my knuckles, my wrist, and my knee. I was extremely overweight, and I knew it was my fault because God had been dealing with me about my health.
I’ve been serving in ministry for nearly all of my life, and I LOVE ministry, but with my health struggles, I was going down on a sinking ship. I sat on my sofa one day literally begging God to heal me or kill me. I know that’s not optimistic, but it IS reality. That really was how desperately I was struggling. I could not do anything effectively. I am a Children’s Pastor. I am a mom of three precious children. I am a pastor’s wife of an amazing man. I am a full-time writer, and I home school all of my children, but I was not able to do any of this effectively—more of struggling to survive it all.
The next day, God sent a friend my way to help me. My life began to change. Don’t get me wrong, no change come easily or without faith that things WILL get better—even when you do not see it with your eyes, and I had to make the choice to slowly die or to live—TRULY LIVE—again. My life began to change from that choice on. On the very first day, some of my aches began to subside, but day number two, I was walking without a limp, something my doctor said would be impossible without a hundred pound weight loss/two to three year process.
I took a step of faith again, and I began a new business venture to help my other minister friends be able to find this same kind of help to reignite their passion, their energy, and their health for their call again. I did this in faith knowing it was what God was calling me to do, and believing in faith that God would not allow me to fail.
My husband and I chose to invest in this business in faith from our lowly $600 a week (for our family of five) income. I literally cried as I paid the money because it physically hurt, knowing it may cost us Christmas gifts for our children, but I trusted God that He was in it, but God kept His promise to us, and the business began to bloom immediately. Minister friends were literally calling me to find out what we were doing once they heard our testimony.
It was only ten weeks after I invested that money that our minivan broke down. I stood in the parking lot and laughed. I knew satan would rear his ugly head in the midst of God’s blessing to us. We sat in the gas station with our three children that night, waiting for God to direct us in what to do. Around midnight, as I settled onto the sofa at my parents’ house, since we could not drive back to our own home, I whispered a prayer, “God, please provide us with a vehicle in which we can drive our family around safely and we can use to grow this business to continue to help others.”
The next morning, I awakened to a call from my friend that had first helped me on this journey. “Congratulations, Misty!”
My eyebrows furrowed. “Congratulations?”
“Don’t you know?”
“Know what?” I rubbed my morning eyes awake.
“Your business grew so much, you just hit your auto bonus. Go pick out your Cadillac.” She chuckled.
Tears swelled on my eye lids. “God, you are faithful!” So, now, people see me driving that Cadillac, and they are quick to judge how I got it. People see me walking around with a big cheesy smile on my face, and they are quick to judge that I’ve never had a struggle. People are quick judges, but they would be wrong.
They do not know my journey. They do not know my struggle. They do not know my testimony, and that I have overcome—not because of what I did, but simply because I walked in faith to the God that is faithful, and He honored me for it.
This past week, I’ve had people say:
- “What happens if it all falls apart?”
- “What if the economy collapses?”
- “You could lose everything.”
I started this on faith in God, and I will continue to trust HIM in faith. I cannot give up because of fear; because God doesn’t dwell in fear, He dwells in our praises, and I believe His WORD that if I draw near to God, He will draw near to me, and I will walk in His favor as I walk in faith in Him. I never asked God for a Cadillac. I asked Him for help. I let Him choose how He wanted to bless me. Who am I to complain about how God chooses to love me. I’ll just continue to curl up in His arms and trust Him.
And now, I’ve finished buying presents for my kids for Christmas. We’re going to bless others for Christmas now. Faithful. He’s ALWAYS faithful!!!
Hebrews 11:1, 6
Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.
( If you’d like to know more about my business venture…
http://www.happygomisty.le-vel.com )
HappygoMisty 