A Lesson on Trust and Provision

We had just returned from a recent trip and with that return we quickly knew that we had a lesson to learn. We are grateful how the Father helps us walk through different challenges, this lesson was in trust and provision, sounds easy doesn’t it? Here is how that lesson played out.

Our biggest challenge has been securing our next round of visas, as we have now transitioned out of our previous workplace and our current visas would expire soon. The path forward was always a bit of an unknown, as we didn't know what employment options would still allow us enough capacity to continue the fellowship work that we were doing. Whenever we shared about this challenge with others, we would always suffix it by saying that we believed that the Father would provide. While my wife and I both did truly believe in this statement, we approached it with two completely different types of trust.

For myself, the mantra of "Do your best and leave the rest to the Father" has always been subconsciously engrained into the way I operated my faith. As such, even as we approached our final weeks prior to returning to the country, I was already starting to ready myself for the job search, meticulously reviewing and updating my resume. Upon returning in country, it was not long before I truly began searching for jobs in earnest, combing through multiple job posting sites daily to see if I could find any suitable openings. However, despite having looked now for nearly two months, I still had not made much progress.

As all of this was happening, my wife appeared to take a much more carefree approach to the whole situation. Even after returning to the country, she didn’t appear to show any signs of looking for work. It reached a point where I felt the need to confront her about how it felt like she had left me to do all the work by myself. While very sympathetic and apologetic about the situation, my wife also expressed once again her genuine trust and belief that she felt like the Father would provide for us, and as such had been approaching the situation one step at a time. 

The very next day, the Father connected us to a small, local publishing company that works on translating resources for believers from English to their local language. They happened to also have a need for someone to help with graphic design, prepping books for print, and eventually some additional products and merchandise design as well - all skills which my wife was well equipped with. The day after that, my wife met with them for a conversation and was essentially offered a job on the spot. Not only that, but they also agreed to allow her to only work part-time! 

It was a humbling testament to the difference between trusting the Father with our words versus our actions - trusting Him in part versus submitting our lives in complete dependence. In this situation, the results speak for themselves as to which is the more fruitful method. 

The Father uses different situations to remind us that He cares about the details, the big ones and the ones we think are small. It is a joy to submit to His leading and guiding, knowing He is trustworthy and our provider.