We seriously needed to sell our house quickly in Illinois ! The year was 2005. My late husband, Dale, and I were in the process of relocating back to Houston, TX. We had a firm offer, or so we thought, until the buyer’s lender refused to fund the purchase the night before the closing. Just that quick, we were stuck with payments on two different houses. Getting the first bona fide offer seemed like a miracle in itself. Then, in that economic climate, getting a second buyer in Illinois looked hopelessly impossible.
After receiving the bad news, immediately the wrong thoughts and feelings surfaced. The devil (the accuser of the brethren) began to say the deal fell through because we somehow had disobeyed God, displeased the Lord, not given enough, etc. To further drive the dagger in, someone we respected stated the same during a mid-week church service. This well-respected, mega church pastor’s mother had everyone who was experiencing financial challenges to stand so that she could pray for us. She waited until we were standing, then she proceeded to state that the challenges we were facing were because we hadn’t obeyed God; we hadn’t given enough.
That stung and it took a moment to shake the oppressive feelings associated with the thought that God somehow was withholding because of something we supposedly had, or in this case, had not done. How was I to believe if God, somehow, was displeased?
But our God is faithful! In the midst of the confusion, the Holy Spirit ministered to my heart and said what we were experiencing was common to all men; we should stand our ground, not change our confession, and maintain our authority in Jesus. In essence, the Lord reminded me that the righteousness we have received is a free gift, unearned, and it remains intact. It is not based on our actions or lack thereof; so, the authority we have received through our faith in the blood and power of Jesus always remains in effect. We needed only to act on it.
The Lord brought home the lesson through having us meditate on Hebrews 13: 5, 6 (NIV), which states, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. So we say with confidence, The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"
Later the Lord said, "You never have a reason to worry, and you never have a reason to fear." Out of it we learned, if you don’t fear, you'll make the right decision every time. What we didn’t know at the time was that this was leading up to the economic downturn of 2008. This wasn't specific to us. Many people were unable to sell their homes.
As instructed by the Holy Spirit, we exercised our authority, spoke to the property, and called it sold. Also, we declared that we would not lose any money during the process. When the negative thoughts came, we reminded ourselves of Hebrews 13:5, 6 and confessed (based on that Word), "we never have a reason to worry and we never have a reason to fear."
After receiving the bad news, immediately the wrong thoughts and feelings surfaced. The devil (the accuser of the brethren) began to say the deal fell through because we somehow had disobeyed God, displeased the Lord, not given enough, etc. To further drive the dagger in, someone we respected stated the same during a mid-week church service. This well-respected, mega church pastor’s mother had everyone who was experiencing financial challenges to stand so that she could pray for us. She waited until we were standing, then she proceeded to state that the challenges we were facing were because we hadn’t obeyed God; we hadn’t given enough.
That stung and it took a moment to shake the oppressive feelings associated with the thought that God somehow was withholding because of something we supposedly had, or in this case, had not done. How was I to believe if God, somehow, was displeased?
But our God is faithful! In the midst of the confusion, the Holy Spirit ministered to my heart and said what we were experiencing was common to all men; we should stand our ground, not change our confession, and maintain our authority in Jesus. In essence, the Lord reminded me that the righteousness we have received is a free gift, unearned, and it remains intact. It is not based on our actions or lack thereof; so, the authority we have received through our faith in the blood and power of Jesus always remains in effect. We needed only to act on it.
The Lord brought home the lesson through having us meditate on Hebrews 13: 5, 6 (NIV), which states, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. So we say with confidence, The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"
Later the Lord said, "You never have a reason to worry, and you never have a reason to fear." Out of it we learned, if you don’t fear, you'll make the right decision every time. What we didn’t know at the time was that this was leading up to the economic downturn of 2008. This wasn't specific to us. Many people were unable to sell their homes.
As instructed by the Holy Spirit, we exercised our authority, spoke to the property, and called it sold. Also, we declared that we would not lose any money during the process. When the negative thoughts came, we reminded ourselves of Hebrews 13:5, 6 and confessed (based on that Word), "we never have a reason to worry and we never have a reason to fear."
You need to know the Word of God works every time! Within eight (8) days of the first closing falling through, we received and accepted another offer. When other people couldn’t get one offer, we received a second. It was only $500 less than the original contract, and the buyer requested no contingencies, changes or repairs.
True to our confession, we made a nice profit from the sale of the house and, when we received half the earnest money for the first contract going sour, it more than covered the $500. We lost nothing!
True to our confession, we made a nice profit from the sale of the house and, when we received half the earnest money for the first contract going sour, it more than covered the $500. We lost nothing!
Through the Word of God, the Lord taught us an extremely valuable lesson concerning His covenant relationship with us. He literally can, wants to and will fight for and help us if we will believe Him and act on His Word. Now, I continually remind myself that our covenant-keeping God is for us and “will never leave nor forsake us; therefore, we (Believers) can boldly say, the Lord is our helper, we will not be afraid of what man can do to us.”