Psalms 103:2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:
Isaiah 51:13 And you forget the LORD your Maker, Who stretched out the heavens And laid the foundations of the earth; You have feared continually every day Because of the fury of the oppressor, When he has prepared to destroy. And where is the fury of the oppressor?
The past ten days have been both exciting and fearful. Many of you are aware of our ministry to the people of Bantayan Island. We began our work on this small Pacific atoll in the Philippines at the end of 2010. As we walked amongst the remote fishing villages of the poor, the Lord had spoken to us to help the desperate people of the island to know Jesus and provide their great needs for food, clothing and shelter.
We returned home to the United States with excitement over the new opportunity that the Lord had given us, laced with a small amount of fear. There would be many little miracles that would need to take place in order for us to be able to return to the Philippines. Number one would be the sale of our home in a drastically reduced house selling market.
From the moment we began readying the home for sale, fear and doubts began to creep into my heart. Would we find a buyer? Would we get a fair price? What would happen to our hopes of returning to Bantayan Island if the house did not sell?
You see, we had made a step of faith when we were on Bantayan. The last day of our trip in January, we had found a small parcel of land that was within our limited budget. To build a home on this little island is very reasonable, but to find a piece of land for a good price is another thing all together. On our final day, young boy had taken us to an area right in the middle of the fishing villages that we had hoped to be able to minster to. There we found the perfect lot and made an offer to purchase from a young man whose father had left him the lot upon his passing. We explained that we did not have cash to pay for the land, but would have to go back and sell our home in America first.
Amazingly, he agreed to accept a small monthly payment with the balance due within the year. Delighted at the blessing the Lord had given us, we hurried back home to complete what was surely His will.
Knowing that God loves you and desires to bless your life and actually being able to wait for that blessing are two completely different things. Everyday my heart was renewed in its fear and doubts of what could happen, if what needed to happen, did not happen. Daily I had to repent of my fears and doubts and just continue to trust the Lord and believe in His goodness and power to help us.
Within three weeks a young couple made a fair offer on our home and we began the process of escrow, looking forward to the close of the sale in just thirty days. You would think that now that we had been sent a buyer from the Lord, that all fear and doubts would be gone forever. Instead, new fears came upon me. What if the sale does not go through? What if… Well you know about the “what ifs”, don’t you?
I had forgotten through this entire process that this one event that I found myself struggling with, was not the first thing that I had needed to trust the Lord for in my life. There were literally thousands of little miracles along the path of my thirty-six years walking with Jesus. There were many, many things that the Lord had already been faithful to provide that were necessary to get me where I was at today.
Perhaps what I should do instead of be afraid of the uncertainty of the future, is thank Him and praise Him for what He has already done. I was already a truly blessed man. If the Lord did nothing else for me ever again, He had already done so much.
I have a home, a wife who truly loves me and is every man’s dream. I have two wonderful sons, a new granddaughter and a career that is a blessing to me every day of my life. I have enough to thank the Lord for already.
It is for certain that just as the Lord had always been good to me in the past, He is going to continue to be good in all the days ahead.
In our daily walk with Jesus, may we examine the faithfulness of the Lord in our life so far? May we be thankful for all that He has already blessed us with and thank Him with a sincere heart for how gracious and kind He has been to us already? As we think about the fears and uncertainty of the future, we should remember the past, that our Lord has never failed to provide all that we need in our life and He will not fail us in the days ahead.
Rob Robinson
