For years, I’ve run a blog teaching others to save money and how to make money online.
It was incredibly lucrative, to say the least.
As a single mom, I was able to save $400,000 cash to put as a down payment on a beautiful million-dollar home in Idaho, where I lived at the time. Things were going fantastic and I was serving a lot of people.
And then it happened…
God is Always There For You
While my blog always had Christian influences on it from the start, God then started asking me to create a solely Christian blog and to stop teaching the thing that had made me so successful in the past: saving and making money online (I still have posted a couple saving money articles here or there to help people because the information is not online already, but the main focus now is faith-based articles).
Humbly, I accepted His will. I thought it was a natural fit to teach about God but people didn’t like that and most all my traffic and followers left. My email list of over 100,000 people went down the drain!
They didn’t want Jesus, they just wanted me to interpret His time and true teachings/the Word of God and principles on money so they could get what they wanted: money. They didn’t want God or a relationship with Him, just all the blessings and “goodies” He gives. 😔
My home started going into foreclosure as I had no way to suddenly pay the $6,000/month mortgage payment after things started going downhill.
Yet still I blogged.
I held on tight to Jesus and continued down this path no one seems to want to listen to: God.
I’m sure that you can understand that. In our culture, it seems like no one cares about God or even wants to hear about Him, yet we are called to be lights and obey Him regardless.
I was working with a realtor to sell my home because I couldn’t afford the payments and suddenly got a 3-day notice on my front door from the lender to evacuate the home. They said if I didn’t comply within 3 days, they would take me to court to have me physically removed. Obviously, we want to live in peace with all people as much as depends on us (Romans 12:18), so I left. What else could I do, you know?
As a single woman with no husband or family, I packed the car quickly with only what would fit and left and came to another state where things are cheaper.
A kind homeless shelter took me in about a week ago and that is where I am staying currently. They let me bring my computer to my room and that’s where I blog and do my work from.
I am on the waiting list for an apartment here but I don’t know how long it will take and I’m not sure this city is where God ultimately wants me. I don’t have all the answers…in fact, I have very few.
I have, of course, sought the Lord, as I do daily since giving my life to Him 18 years ago and asked Him why He is allowing all this to happen. 🤔
He is convicting me that He wants to shine a light on Him within me, to show the world that I’m going to obey him no matter the cost, even if the loss is very great.
Me losing my mansion there in Idaho, my life, my friends, and now being homeless, I am STILL continuing to do the work He has set out for me to do (Philippians 1:6) and blogging about Him even from the homeless shelter, consistently every day.
If this is what God wants for me, I will happily walk through this trying time for His purposes! I love Him with all my heart and will do anything, short of sin, for Him. Giving up everything is a pleasure if that’s what He wants me to do for Him.
We must all, at all times, be willing to count the cost of following God and be ready and willing to give up absolutely everything for Him. Not that He will ask it of us, mine is a rare case for His purposes, but that we always need to be willing in our hearts, at a moment’s notice, to give up everything for Him, as I have done, to show you the way.
If we are not willing to do that, we are unworthy of the call of Christ and not genuine believers.
Here’s what I’ve learned since being homeless…again…(read about the first time I was homeless here).
1- God doesn’t change
No matter how much you beg God to avoid situations, sometimes, you just have to walk through them and you’re not really sure why.
You don’t really know the point and it feels like God can just get glory for Himself in another way, without you having to go through something horrific, but you learn that you can’t change things.
For whatever reason, He has His mind made up and it’s for our best interest and His glory and we should be willing to walk through fire for Him. Anyone who is a genuine believer WILL!
2- God loves you
In the good AND the bad, when things are soaring and when the chips are down, in both cases, in both extremes, the Lord God Almighty is GOOD.
He’s good today, He’s good tomorrow, He’s always good.
He will never cease from being good.
Bad things happen to everyone and when we go through tough times like this, it’s THESE times when our faith really MATTERS.
What does it matter if we have faith in God when everything is wonderful? What does that accomplish?
But sitting in a place of utter misery, feeling like you’re dying and just wanting to escape from everything, God is there in your misery. He’s there when you need comfort, and while maybe you might not feel His presence, give it a couple of days and you’ll SEE Him work.
Our faith is displayed, tested, and PROVED not in the good times, but in the bad!
Whatever it is that you’re struggling with today, hold onto that jewel. Your faith is being tested. You are being refined like the beautiful jewel you are!❤️
3- God is always there with you
I love what Paul writes (from jail) in 2 Timothy 4:16-18. All humans had deserted him. I know what that’s like. All humans have deserted me too! Yet, he says, God didn’t. God was there and he is confident that God will rescue him.
In the same way as Paul, I am 100% confident the Lord my God WILL rescue me. It may not be today. It may not be tomorrow. In fact, it might not even be this year!
But I KNOW, that the Lord will rescue me.
Why?
Because I’m innocent and because He’s good. I haven’t done ANYTHING to deserve this. I’ve not sinned or failed or messed up in any way, shape, or form. There’s nothing I’ve done secretly or publicly to warrant this happening, only that I’ve been unapologetically following every step the Lord commands of me.
Therefore, I know He will save me. This isn’t punishment or chastisement for something I’ve done. On the contrary, I’m here BECAUSE I’ve obeyed Him. And He will not let me suffer forever. He will save me, put my feet on steady ground, and give me whatever it is He desires to give to me. I await that precious promise of His.
Day and night I pray for Him to do it. For Him to save me. To rush along His promises. But for as long as He leaves me in this situation, I will continue to praise His name and proclaim His name for the world to see, that amidst even the most horrible kind of suffering, we can STILL have joy, peace, love, and most importantly…hope (Romans 5:5).
God doesn’t just take off when the bad stuff happens. He is always there with us, walking us through everything.
4- Your reward is great
Anytime we suffer for the sake of God, not by chastisement or punishment, but because of something God has called us to do, we are rewarded and the reward is GREAT!
Maybe you’ll see that reward here on earth, or maybe you’ll see it in heaven, but either way, the Bible is clear, you WILL BE rewarded (1 Peter 3:14).
5- God will punish your enemies
If there are enemies involved in your suffering, God will punish them and make everything fair.
The Bible says in Romans 8:31, “If God is for us, who can be against us?”
Whoever is causing you pain should beware because God WILL avenge you (if you are innocent) and make things right. They will suffer His wrath, either here on earth or in the life to come, or both.
Either way, God has your back!
Think about Saul and David. David was on the run for his life from a very jealous Saul. God ended up allowing Saul to die and David was then free of his enemy, but Saul would not stop pursuing and chasing (to kill David) and so God HAD TO allow Saul to die to get him to stop, to protect David.
Sometimes, in dire situations such as those, where your enemies will NOT stop pursuing you, they must die a physical death to get them to stop. It’s the only way to stop them and God does allow it in those situations.
Either way, YOU can know that God is on YOUR side and that your enemies will be punished. You will not endure it forever! Justice WILL BE SERVED!!
6- God can use your sufferings to help others
When we are going through such terrible times, people are watching in your life and by your attitude of faith, God can use that as a witness, a beacon to help others.
To inspire them to persevere through their own trials, to help them know they are not alone in their sufferings, and to encourage a believer who may face tough times in the future by remembering what you’ve been through and how your faith shined throughout it all.
God can use you as a witness to help others!
Whether God is using your situation to help others, using your situation to condemn your enemies, using it to reward you, or showing you that He’s there for you in a real and LIVE way, you can be sure of one thing…The Lord God is always there for you. Whether it’s in a homeless shelter, on the streets, in a rich home, or an average home. No matter where you are, where you’re located, in whatever city you’re in, whatever country you’re in, whatever state you’re in, He’s there.
He’s acting.
He’s working.
He’s doing stuff to help you, grow you, shape you, mold you, and use you as a witness to others.
Indeed, God IS there with you, even if you don’t feel His presence…He’s there.
Continue to cry out to Him, continue to seek His will, continue to pray, continue to listen to sermons, read your Bible, and continue with all your heart and soul to invest deeper in your relationship with Him.
He cares about you. He loves you. He’s there. He knows what’s going on and what you are dealing with is not too hard for Him to take care of! It just may be about going through it for a reason.
Remember, nothing can stop you…not with God on your side!!! ❤️
