I'm convinced that God loves adventure.
He loves cliffhangers, and swooping in at the last minute to save us.
However, we, the cliff hangees, don't usually like that kind of adventure.
Sure, there are the bungee jumpers among us, but most would rather stay far back from the edge of the cliff.
Do you remember the early black and white movies, when the villain tied the little lady to the train tracks, and the hero rushed in to free her just before the train hit her? That hero is like God.
He always seems to get there in the nick of time, but we'd much rather He got there a lot earlier, before we broke out into a cold sweat.
What we often forget is that God is always there.
He never leaves us.
We don't have to worry about whether He will show up.
He's here.
God entered the building a very long time ago, and He has never left.
However, the reason why He often leaves us hanging for a long time is that He expects us to expect Him.
Did you ever think about that? God expects us to expect Him.
It's like a boy at his first baseball game, a girl at her first ballet recital, or a graduate at his high school graduation.
If anyone were to ask them, "Is your Dad coming?" they'd say, "Of course he's coming, he's my Dad.
" That's what God wants from us.
He expects us to expect Him.
It's not that He wants us to have an arrogant sense of entitlement, i.
e.
, "God, you must show up.
Period.
" It's more a matter of us believing in Him, His love and His provision so profoundly, that we know, we KNOW, that He will be there, right when we need Him.
We can go through our lives in peace, knowing that He is walking with us, every step of the way.
I'll admit, I struggle with this.
I shouldn't, because God has shown Himself in my life so many times, in so many ways, that for me, it should be as natural as breathing.
But I still break out into a cold sweat.
I'm in the middle of some financial challenges right now.
I'm going through a divorce after 25 years of marriage, and having to pay some stiff legal fees.
On top of that, I own a cabin in Idaho which has a mortgage on it.
The cabin was originally intended to be a vacation rental, but we found out fairly quickly that the vacation rental market in that part of the world is not so good right now.
I'm now trying to get a full-time renter into it, but that market is fairly dry, too.
And, on top of that, after 12 years of being a stay-at-home mom, I've decided to re-establish myself as a freelance writer, and slowly build a business, so that I can continue to be a stay-at-home mom while working.
There are many times when I feel like I'm walking a tightrope.
As I pay the mortgage payment on my cabin each month and the ongoing legal fees, I feel the tightrope getting thinner and thinner.
Is God swooping in and rescuing me? Not in a huge dramatic way, but more so in small ways.
And these small ways add up to big things: * God is keeping my older car running.
It has 160,000 miles on it, and it keeps on running beautifully.
He is stretching my gas mileage.
* Whenever I prepare meals, no matter what last-minute guest shows up (usually my daughter's best friend), there is always enough.
I've also noticed that our food is staying fresh for unusually long periods, so that little is wasted.
* My children and I have been wonderfully healthy.
* And quite often when I pay for things, God gives me a sweet little discount.
I was at Costco the other day, and as I went through the checkout stand, the checker automatically gave me the month's coupons (which I hadn't brought or said anything about), so I saved about $16.
00.
I remember these things every day, because they remind me that God is there, working behind the scenes, blessing me, being my "Dad.
" God expects us to expect Him.
He's our Father and He WILL be there, right when we need Him.
We can count on it.
He loves cliffhangers, and swooping in at the last minute to save us.
However, we, the cliff hangees, don't usually like that kind of adventure.
Sure, there are the bungee jumpers among us, but most would rather stay far back from the edge of the cliff.
Do you remember the early black and white movies, when the villain tied the little lady to the train tracks, and the hero rushed in to free her just before the train hit her? That hero is like God.
He always seems to get there in the nick of time, but we'd much rather He got there a lot earlier, before we broke out into a cold sweat.
What we often forget is that God is always there.
He never leaves us.
We don't have to worry about whether He will show up.
He's here.
God entered the building a very long time ago, and He has never left.
However, the reason why He often leaves us hanging for a long time is that He expects us to expect Him.
Did you ever think about that? God expects us to expect Him.
It's like a boy at his first baseball game, a girl at her first ballet recital, or a graduate at his high school graduation.
If anyone were to ask them, "Is your Dad coming?" they'd say, "Of course he's coming, he's my Dad.
" That's what God wants from us.
He expects us to expect Him.
It's not that He wants us to have an arrogant sense of entitlement, i.
e.
, "God, you must show up.
Period.
" It's more a matter of us believing in Him, His love and His provision so profoundly, that we know, we KNOW, that He will be there, right when we need Him.
We can go through our lives in peace, knowing that He is walking with us, every step of the way.
I'll admit, I struggle with this.
I shouldn't, because God has shown Himself in my life so many times, in so many ways, that for me, it should be as natural as breathing.
But I still break out into a cold sweat.
I'm in the middle of some financial challenges right now.
I'm going through a divorce after 25 years of marriage, and having to pay some stiff legal fees.
On top of that, I own a cabin in Idaho which has a mortgage on it.
The cabin was originally intended to be a vacation rental, but we found out fairly quickly that the vacation rental market in that part of the world is not so good right now.
I'm now trying to get a full-time renter into it, but that market is fairly dry, too.
And, on top of that, after 12 years of being a stay-at-home mom, I've decided to re-establish myself as a freelance writer, and slowly build a business, so that I can continue to be a stay-at-home mom while working.
There are many times when I feel like I'm walking a tightrope.
As I pay the mortgage payment on my cabin each month and the ongoing legal fees, I feel the tightrope getting thinner and thinner.
Is God swooping in and rescuing me? Not in a huge dramatic way, but more so in small ways.
And these small ways add up to big things: * God is keeping my older car running.
It has 160,000 miles on it, and it keeps on running beautifully.
He is stretching my gas mileage.
* Whenever I prepare meals, no matter what last-minute guest shows up (usually my daughter's best friend), there is always enough.
I've also noticed that our food is staying fresh for unusually long periods, so that little is wasted.
* My children and I have been wonderfully healthy.
* And quite often when I pay for things, God gives me a sweet little discount.
I was at Costco the other day, and as I went through the checkout stand, the checker automatically gave me the month's coupons (which I hadn't brought or said anything about), so I saved about $16.
00.
I remember these things every day, because they remind me that God is there, working behind the scenes, blessing me, being my "Dad.
" God expects us to expect Him.
He's our Father and He WILL be there, right when we need Him.
We can count on it.