Those who subscribe to our monthly news and prayer updates will know that we shared at the beginning of the month that we had a sense that February was going to be a key time for us in terms of getting a house. We asked people to join us in praying that God’s storehouse would be opened and that He would release either a house for Time2 or the money to buy one. I know that we’re still just over a week away from the end of the month, but I wanted to share with you our journey over the last couple of weeks.
Many of you will know that we’ve just spent the past few weeks in Cardiff, providing care and support to Ruth’s parents, as a result of Ruth’s mum spending time in hospital as a result of a fall. It was a longer stay than we’d originally intended, as we were informed on the day of her release, that the household would have to isolate for 14 days after she was brought home. Though it wasn’t a situation we’d planned for, it proved to be a great opportunity to build memories, do some practical tasks and to just be able to support and encourage them. I believe that by the time we left, we had been blessed, as much as if not more than they had been.
Getting back to the house update, but without going into a very lengthy story, on Valentine’s Day we heard that a potential house, that we’d only viewed online but had everything that we needed, was no longer available. When we were first told about the house a few months ago and that there was the possibility that the owners may gift it to us, we were speechless. So to receive the news that we weren’t going to have the house felt like a real crushing blow. At which point all the old doubts begin to creep into your mind. “Is the Time2 vision really from God, or is it something we just wanted to do? Did God really promise to provide a home and all the financial provision we will need? If we’ve not heard properly about the house, how can we trust anything else that we’ve built our lives upon?”
It was at this point, that I suddenly remembered the passage that I’d only just read that morning from Exodus 16, about how God provided ‘Manna’ from Heaven for the Israelites in the wilderness. “Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.” (Exodus 16:4 NIVUK). In that most famous prayer that Jesus taught His disciples, He makes reference to this passage with the line “Give us this day our daily bread.” (Matthew 6:11).
In writing this, I’m definitely not saying that all my doubts and fears are gone! Or even that I am certain that God will supply everything we need by the end of February to get Time2 up and running, but I am clinging on to the promises that He will supply what we need, when we really need it. Looking back, I can say that we have never been without a roof over our head or a meal on the table, it’s been close on a couple of occasions, when we didn’t know where tomorrow’s food was coming from, but he has always provided us with our “daily bread”.
I’m pretty sure that we will have more times of doubt and worry ahead of us, where we again cry ourselves to sleep, not knowing how the Time2 vision will ever happen. But the main thing that we need to remember is that when we do have those doubts, that we cry out to our Heavenly Father and be honest with Him, rather than turning our backs on Him!
You can read more of our struggles on the journey in our earlier blog ‘In Rough Waters’.
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