This summer, my wife and I made the decision to do the easiest thing on earth: sell our home. Not only did we decide to sell our home, but we did it with two kids, a dog, and no future home lined up right away. We sure are smart, right?
Being a sellers market, we saw a great opportunity to pay off debt with the sale of our home and move into a new home that supported our growing family a little better.
We put our house on the market, and within six days it sold! But a few days later the buyers backed out. We decided that we wanted to keep the house on the market and try again. Two days later, we sold our house again! So, we decided to put an offer in on a home that we loved. A few days later, the buyers of our home…yep, backed out. So, we lost the home we put an offer on. In the following months, we put offers on three different homes, and nothing ended up working out.
At this point, we felt like nothing could go right. We asked ourselves questions like, “Should we have never put our house on the market?” and “God, why isn’t this going well?” It was really hard to believe that the best was yet to come at this point in our journey.
My wife and I completely believe God is on our side, guiding our steps. But sometimes it’s hard to believe that God is for us and that He is going to see us through certain circumstances in life. And why should we believe that's true when life makes us feel like the exact opposite is true?
I want to lay out a few reasons why I think it’s so important to believe that best is yet to come and that God will see us through, even when it seems like nothing is going right:
1. Because God has promised us a plan for our life that is full of hope and a prosperous future.
'For I know the plans I have for you,' says the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'
Jeremiah 29:11, above, is an incredible reminder of God's promises to us. Believe me, I know there are a lot worse things in life than struggling to sell and buy a home. My family has been blessed beyond measure. But maybe like me, you are facing something that may not seem like a big deal to the people around you, but is truly something that is making you question if God is for you. It could be struggling to find a job. It could be that your car keeps breaking down. It could be that you and your spouse are trying again to see if kids are in your future. Or maybe, the kids that you do have are in a tough season and you feel like a failure as a parent.
What I want you to know today is that we were all created by a God who is FOR us, a God who has a plan that is prosperous and hopeful. He wants to see us thrive in this life and experience the hope that is only found in Him. But most of time, it doesn’t happen in the way or timing that we want. And that can be brutal. But we can look to the promises He has made and know there is hope for a better day.
2. Because Jesus has overcome the world.
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.
Jesus straight up says here, in John 16:33, that we will experience hardships and struggles in this life—but that it doesn’t have to end there. Jesus didn’t die for you and me so that we would live an empty and hopeless life. He died so that we would experience freedom. Freedom from the struggles we face, freedom from our insecurities, and freedom from our brokenness. Because HE has overcome the world. We have the God of the universe on our side, every single day. And when we put our hope and trust in Him, everything changes.
Sometimes He simply asks us to wait for His perfect timing.
So here we are today, and two weeks ago we sold our house. And the buyers…didn’t back out! Not only that, but we found our next home and somehow, someway, we are closing on both homes on the same day. We would have never chosen the timing and journey of our story. But God was with us at every step we made, continuing to remind us that He is worthy of our trust. That He is a God who longs for us to experience hope and joy. A God who is for us. And God who overcame death so we could experience life.
May we all find rest and hope today in the One who has given us life.
