Independently Wealthy

02/20/2004

"Are you independently wealthy?"
The question alone brings on a chuckle. I have to answer, "No."
And then I add, "We are independently poor."

Many have wondered how we can do what we are doing, how it is even possible. Many would like to do the same, travel full time, but it is usually reserved for those who are retired. We are not. We are much too young for that "luxury." That's one of the nice things about growing older that we see many enjoying out on the road, an income that comes in while they travel through their golden years.

We're only in our "silver years" and can only do this for so long before some sort of income is required to go where God calls us, even if it is God calling us. It takes fuel; it takes money to eat and to park our home at night. It takes insurance and all the practical things that our lives still require although we have simplified our lives quite a bit.

Along with the simplicity comes the advantage of being able to work jobs that don't require an office or a three-piece suit. The simple life keeps expenses to a minimum and jobs can be found that meet our needs perfectly. God has provided a job just like that. It is a job that requires an RV with people on board who like to travel. It is a job that helps to pay the mileage as we are called to different areas and it is a job that helps to pay overnight expenses to park our home when we get there. Yes, there are jobs like this out there, and Jim has found just such a job. It entails gas leak detection in different cities and different states. We figure where the job leads is where God wants us to be since He provided the job in the first place!

Way back in April of last year, Jim heard about it. Since that time he has taken the steps to acquire it, and today we found out he has been officially hired. When our time in the Bay Area is finished at the end of the month, we will head off to Tucson and beyond to begin the newest phase of our lives.

It almost seems too good to be true! Is God really going to allow us to travel, to work, to write, and to spread His Good News from city to city, and state to state, providing for all our needs as we go? It has been a long period of waiting for a final answer, but it has finally come and we are rejoicing over God's goodness!

"To the faithful you show yourself faithful;"
Psalm 18:25

I would like to think that God considers us to be faithful to Him. I would hope that each day we live, we live to serve Him and to put Him above all else. It is a goal that believers strive for, but we fall short so much of the time. We get distracted and busy and tied up in the affairs of this world and God becomes a distant memory at times. But God never gets too busy for us. He never gets tied up in the affairs of heaven and forgets our needs on earth.

As for God, his way is perfect.
All the Lord's promises prove true.
He is a shield for all who look to
him for protection.
Psalm 18:30

We have prayed for many months for God's help in this matter. Since we are "independently poor," we knew the time would come when there would be no fuel for the truck, no propane for the tanks, no food in the fridge. We have prayed for God's guidance and we knew that He would show us the way and He would provide, we just didn't know how and when. We knew this job was a possibility, but was it God's will? Only time could answer that question, and our flesh wanted to go the way of doubt and fear. We prayed about that too.

In our eyes, the wait can seem so long. In God's eyes, the wait is no wait at all, He already knows the answer and He already knows the day we will receive it. Until that day, He asks us to trust Him with our lives. That is a difficult request, but one that He makes of all of us.

God is faithful, we don't question that. But are we faithful to Him? Is it even possible in these fleshly bodies to remain constantly faithful without stumbling along the way? I sincerely doubt it. We are sinners, we make mistakes, we struggle to find our way and we require forgiveness and cleansing when the day is through. It is a pattern that is repeated each day we live because each day we live we fall short of the perfection required to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

There was only One who walked the face of this earth who did not fall short of that perfection, and that is Jesus Christ. If not for His saving grace, we would all be lost. When we stumble and fall there would be no one to pick us up. When we are not faithful, there would be no one to forgive us. When we tremble in fear, there would be no one to hold us and comfort us and remind us that everything is going to be just fine. We would be left to fend for ourselves, and we would be a sorry sight.

And he became their Savior.
In all their suffering he also suffered,
and he personally rescued them.
Isaiah 63:9

We don't suffer alone...we don't question alone...we don't wait alone. We are never alone, even though sometimes it feels that way. We have a Helper at all times. The only question is, will we call on that Helper, will we depend on that Helper, will we wait on that Helper and His perfect timing for all things?

As with cattle going down into the peaceful valley,
the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest. You led
your people, Lord, and gained a magnificent reputation.
Isaiah 63:14

God will lead us, but how many times are we willing to follow? We want to run ahead and make our own way because we think we know what is best. Waiting just kills us; we just don't seem to have the patience for it!!

Jim and I have been waiting and waiting to hear about this job. We have seen God's hand upon our lives each day, specifically since we got our RV. This truly seems to be God's plan for this time in our lives and God has provided for us each day. Does that make the waiting any easier when we feel that the day will come that we will not have fuel for our truck and propane for our tanks? When the full realization that we are "independently poor" stops us in our tracks? Yes and No. We know that God is good, that God will provide, but we struggle with our own doubts and fears too. We too start to question if we have heard right, if this is God's will, if we should run out and scoop up the first available job on this day and not wait on what it seems God is calling us to.

The flesh wants to win, it really does. It battles hard fighting against what the spirit knows. The spirit says wait, God will provide. The flesh says, "But..." and the temptation to do what's "safe" becomes very strong. How many times do we bend to this temptation and miss the great things God has in store for us? Way too many, I believe.

Looking back, Jim and I have already taken so many steps of faith into the unknown that have brought us to this time in our lives. Because of those steps of faith, we have already experienced a multitude of things that we would have missed had we let fear stand in our way. If we stopped now, we would carry to our graves great things that God has already done, but if we don't stop now, there is a multitude of things God has waiting for us along the rest of our "journey," and we don't want to miss them!!

"I will bless those who have humble
and contrite hearts, who tremble at my word.
But those who choose their own ways, delighting
in their sins, are cursed."
Isaiah 66:2

We think of sins as big things like adultery, murder, deceit, etc...what if God is simply saying here that those who delight in doing things their own way, miss the blessings He has in store for them? What a curse that would be!

If Jim and I had "run away" in fear and gotten just any job to pay the bills, what would we have missed by waiting on God for the job He had in mind for us? One that would allow us to keep moving on the six wheels He provided and to experience the world and the people that He puts in our path? We don't know the answers to those questions yet but I truly believe as the years go by, we will see the blessings of waiting on God's timing for this.

For since the world began,
no ear has heard, and no eye has seen
a God like you, who works for those
who wait for him!
Isaiah 64:4

We think we are "working" for God and right here it says that God is working for us! He is trying to help us! He wants what is best for us! It's just that it has to happen in His timing and in His way for this world to work like God created it to. We already messed it up in the Garden, why do we continue on that path of destruction when God keeps trying to help us up after we stumbled and fell?

Yet no one calls on your name or pleads with
you for mercy. Therefore, you have turned away
from us and turned us over to our sins.
Isaiah 64:7

God has given us a choice. Do we choose Him or do we not? Do we call on Him for help and wait on His answers, or do we go it alone and hope for the best? It really is our call to make. If we open His Word, we will find the hope and the help we need. If we will truly wait on Him, He seems to want to bless us with things beyond even our wildest imaginations. Why don't we want to take a chance on that option?

And you have brought this on yourselves
by rebelling against the Lord your God
when he wanted to lead you and show you the way!
Jeremiah 2:17

It seems so simple, doesn't it? But it isn't, not for us. We are flesh and blood and we rebel against submission and surrender. We want to be independent, we want to make the rules and we want to decide the outcome. What we don't understand is that God wants what is best for us and when we give Him a chance, we are astounded at how He molds our lives in such a perfect way, if we would only pray and wait on Him.

"I thought to myself, 'I would love to
treat you as my own children!' I wanted
nothing more than to give you this beautiful
land-the finest inheritance in the world.
I looked forward to your calling me
'Father,' and I thought you would never turn
away from me again."
Jeremiah 3:19

How many times can we break God's heart before He gives up on us? I don't want to push it that far, I want to listen and to obey and to be His child.

"My wayward children," says the Lord,
"come back to me, and I will heal your
wayward hearts."
Jeremiah 3:22

Oh, we stray so far away, and yet God calls us back to Him time and time again. He is so forgiving, so patient, so willing to be a loving Father. He wants the very best for us, just as we want for our children.

Jim and I have received more exciting news! Not only do we have one son getting married this year, we have two! The second engagement happened on Valentine's Day and it looks like there will not only be a July wedding for Chris and Holly, but a August wedding for Jimm and Cami. We are thrilled with what this year will hold for our family!

We have been through the sleepless nights and the diaper changes. We have been through the toddler years and the exhaustion of chasing children when they learn to walk but don't know their way. We have been through the teenage years when we "knew nothing" and they "knew everything." We have watched as our boys moved out on their own and made mistakes that caused us great anguish as they learned to "walk" in the world on their new legs. We have been there, and we have done that, and now we are more than ready for this next phase of our lives, becoming in-laws and grandparents and all that that entails.

We all want the very best for our children but sometimes through the painful years, it seems it will never be. Sometimes wayward children never return "home," but most times they do. I hope that this is a reflection of God's children. We who get so very lost but who eventually find our way back to our Father.

Our boys bring us great joy, but it has not been without trials. They tested the limits and they chose paths that were not always pleasing to us. We never stopped loving them even though we questioned their choices. We knew what they were doing was not what was best for them, but they had to have the freedom to find some of those things out on their own. It was the only way they would learn.

Perhaps God does the same for us. He has given us free choice and with that choice we wander down roads that are not wise. By allowing us to do so, we learn things we would never have learned any other way. When we return to Him, we have a better understanding of His mercy and His grace. We have a new appreciation for His unconditional love. We finally learn that God really does "know something" after all and maybe we should take some Fatherly advice from His great wealth of knowledge.

We are God's children but we don't always want to listen. We argue and we bicker and we get stubborn and we go our own way. We don't know what is best for us, but as we mature we start to realize there is Someone who does, and we realize it's time to return home and seek His advice.

"O Sovereign Lord," I said, "I can't
speak for you! I'm too young!"
"Don't say that, " the Lord replied, "for
you must go wherever I send you and say
whatever I tell you. And don't be afraid of
the people, for I will be with you and take
care of you. I, the Lord, have spoken!"
Jeremiah 1:6-8

This has come very true in our lives as many of you may have recently heard. God sent us to a radio station to be interviewed about the journey through grief and beyond. We felt "too young" because we were inexperienced on the radio. We were afraid, because it was the unknown for us. But we went where the Lord sent us and we said what He told us to say, and He took care of us. He held our hand and it was really okay.

We are learning and we are growing as His children. We are finding out that His promises are very true and that He does know what is best for us. It is a life-long journey with many scary things along the way, but God is faithful. He asks us to be faithful to Him.

The day will come when we will stand before God and give an account of all that we have done on this earth. I don't know what questions we will be asked, I don't know what rewards will be given out, but I do know that when that day comes I want to stand before my Father having been as faithful as possible. I want to hear the words, "Well done." Not because I didn't make mistakes, not because I didn't stumble and fall, but because every time I fell I kept looking up to my Father and reaching for His hand, waiting for Him to help me back onto my feet again, continuing along the way He was showing me to go.

Living in His peace and joy,

Diane