We waited.

But the paperwork never arrived. Weeks later, the same voice apologized on the phone. Unforeseen circumstances arose. The position was canceled. We’re weren’t moving to Iowa. We were moving, though… we had to.

We waited.

Living out of suitcases at my in-laws’ house, we sought work.

We waited.

My husband showed me a job listing. It wasn’t what was expected. We knew one person in the whole region. But the Lord said yes with perfect clarity and abundant confirmation. One Skype interview and a phone offer later, we were scheduling another moving truck. This one was bound for the unknown of Minnesota.

With just two weeks to prepare and little in the bank, we signed a lease online with high hopes.

We’d waited.

The Lord had made the way. We believed it.

…Then we pulled up to the apartment complex.

Signing paperwork, we discovered they changed the lease from what we originally signed. Shrugging, the woman said “well, yes, it’s more expensive than you agreed to. But you just moved across the country. What can you do?” The deceit stung.

Our lease was canceled. Tired of waiting, my prayer was “Lord, you brought us here. Why??”

In a new state, 24 hours away from home, we drove to a storage unit. We moved all our stuff into a 6-foot cement prison. On that October day, the first snowfall drifted down. We stayed with a friend for a whole homeless week, searching frantically.

We waited.

The Lord provided a place to live within a chaotic week. But not a good job for me. We waited through church challenges, friendlessness, and open opposition at my part-time job.

My prayer?

“Lord you brought us here. Why?”

I wasn’t ungrateful. I’ve lived much worse.

But never had the Lord so clearly made a way where there was no way, only to bring me to something I couldn’t make sense of.

Has God ever made a way where there was no way, only to bring you to something you couldn't make sense of?
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Exodus became more personal to me. We’d just left a harder chapter of life. We’d just faced promise after promise of newness, waiting until the Lord said “go.” He parted some unbelievable waters for us and led us through on dry land.

When we arrived, the land stayed metaphorically dry and literally frozen. Life felt parched and biting.

I spent much of my time grumbling like the Israelites in the desert: “now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death” (Exodus 16:3.)

God, in fact, had different purposes.

Since our Minnesota wilderness waiting season, the Lord has reminded me of the “whys” I was too discontent to notice then.

It was in our waiting we learned firsthand about how God gives peace when our circumstances are intimidating.
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It was in our waiting we learned firsthand about how God gives peace when our circumstances are intimidating. We’ll never forget how He parted the way and the assurance we had, even as I grumbled, that He was with us and leading us.

We learned an awful lot about prayer. Our marriage grew immensely while knowing no one but each other. We eventually met amazing people.

While in Minnesota, we were blessed by the Lord’s provision through miraculous financing, too-coincidental of timing, unexpected gifts, and even the car we are driving today. My husband and I had time with his best friend we never would have if we didn’t live close.

I also learned about the blessing of loneliness. I learned what it is to wake up to mundane circumstances and immediately turn to the Lord. It was in Minnesota God taught me to write my first manuscript and challenged me to read His whole Word for the first time.

It was there I began to make memories with the Lord. It was there I learned the sound of His voice.

I still pray that prayer though- just a little revised.

“Lord, you brought us here. You know why.”

I pray it even when our circumstances seem settled.

Because I know while we’re waiting on God, He’s always both bringing us out and drawing us in.

How has God answered your prayers in new situations or times of loneliness?

{A version of this post was originally published here.}

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The post Why Did You Bring Me Here, God? {Recharge Wednesday} appeared first on Soaring With Him Ministries.

he Lord said to Gideon, “I will deliver you with the 300 men who lapped and will give the Midianites into your hands; so let all the other people go, each man to his home.” Judges 7:7

It was Friday night. I absently stared at the TV, thinking about how lonely I felt. Looking through my phone book, I knew that the options were not good. Friends who would be available on a Friday night would quickly offer me a tour back into my life before Christ… Places I knew not to visit anymore.

My new Christian friends were all busy with their husbands and family. It was me, my TV… and… my Bible. I glanced down and picked it up.

A new Christian, I had heard that Jesus was all I needed, but was unsure of how to let Him fill the void.

Wanna read more? This is an excerpt from my book TWELVE INCHES – Bridging the Gap between what you Know about God and How you feel – And my friend Kelly Balarie has allowed me to host her busy Tuesday blog with this post. Visit her blog, make sure to leave a comment or share on social media with the hashtag #RaraLinkup @PatHolbrook for a chance to receive a copy of my book.

Click HERE TO VISIT PURPOSEFUL FAITH and read the post!

The post When God Removes People from Your Life – Hosting #RaraLinkup appeared first on Soaring With Him Ministries.

On the day scheduled for the big party, the son arrived at the venue, excited to celebrate the beginning of adulthood with his friends. As the hour progressed, however, he was surprised to realize that only 15 friends had actually showed up. He turned to his dad, frustrated: “I gave you a list of 50 of my friends, Dad! How come you invited only 15?”

The father grinned. “I invited all 50 of your friends to come, son. When I extended the invitation, however, I told them you were in need of their help, and asked them to meet you here today. Only these showed up. Look at their faces. Remember their names. These are your true friends.”

My sister told this parable as we drove around the beautiful island of Florianopolis in South Brazil during my visit earlier this week. Her illustration perfectly fitted a true story I had just told her about my recent experience concerning my friends back home in Atlanta.

In the beginning of January, my husband lost his job of 12 years after a workforce reduction initiative in his former company. We are thrilled that he was offered a great new position in the beginning of May, but as in any valley that we cross in life, there are lessons we learned through these past months. Of all of the blessings we have watched God pour onto our lives as we waited for a new door to open, one stands out: We have learned that the few people we call friends are truly our friends.

I was overwhelmed by the outpouring of love during these four months. Two couples and their families surprised us at home with dinner, the night after my husband lost his job. One of these couples drove over an hour on a weeknight to be there for us. Each one of the guys pulled my husband aside to offer to help in any way.

A prominent executive at a large firm stopped in the middle of his international travel schedule to have lunch with my husband and introduce him to another executive, in an attempt to expand my husband’s network.

Texts came in daily. Phone calls never ceased. Words of encouragement and many prayers were offered on our behalf.

Had we not gone through this valley, we would have missed the lesson: “There’s a friend who sticks closer than a brother,” the Proverb says. We were blessed to find out that is true to the few people we consider our friends.

The lesson the father taught his son in the parable is an important one. Because when life happens — and it will — and we find ourselves in the valley, everyone needs a few good friends. But the other side of the lesson is that each of us must strive to be a good friend to someone. Because the difference between feeling lost in our troubles or keeping our hearts anchored in hope, can sometimes be simply one phone call away.

Patricia Holbrook is a Christian author, blogger and International speaker. Her Book Twelve Inches is on sale at Barnes & Nobles, Amazon and retailers worldwide. Visit her website www.soaringwithHim.com. Email
pholbrook@soaringwithHim.com

The post Friends Are a Blessing in Troubled Times {Atlanta Journal Constitution Column} appeared first on Soaring With Him Ministries.

It was me, my TV and a bible that I knew very little about. I glanced down and picked it up. I was 25 years old and a new Christian. My weekends had been busy for as long as I remembered, filled with friends and many invitations.

Once I started attending church, however, my old friends started to slowly distance themselves from me.

I had made several new friends, but they were, well … new. Therefore, loneliness filled my heart on the weekends. And that particular weekend was the hardest. A friendship of eight years had come to an end that Friday. It was the last drop in the bucket.

“I thought you would fill my life, God, not empty it!” I cried.

And it was there, lying on my couch, that I heard him whisper in my heart for the first time.

“I am preparing the soil for a new harvest.” With my eyes closed, as in a dream, I saw a large, bare field. The soil showed places where trees once stood. It looked desolate. Ugly. Then I saw seeds coming down from the heavens, falling inside each hole on the ground. And finally, I saw the same field, green and full of beautiful, lush, tall trees. “Behold, I am making all things new” was the puzzling message in my heart.

More than 20 years have passed since that day, and I behold the harvest, indeed. I see God’s vision fulfilled. I can easily name the new harvest, one by one. My husband, our two daughters and wonderful, truthful friends throughout the years, planted in the field of my life. Besides one very best friend from my youth and my immediate family, they are all new. They have all been planted by God’s faithful hands, and have flourished and yielded fruits of joy, peace, and love. True friendship. True love.

I stand amazed. The vision was hard to believe at the time when loneliness filled my days. When God removed what I thought was true love, and those whom I considered real friends. He plucked them all, one by one, and left me wondering whether I’d ever feel loved again.

But before he started planting a new harvest in my life, I started seeking him for the first time. Instead of giving in to feelings of loneliness and depression, I sought to learn more about him and became involved serving others. As I did that, God started planting beautiful new relationships in my life.

Sometimes God removes people from our lives for a reason. It’s hard. Always hard. Mainly when you have grown to love someone. But I have learned that when God allows it to happen, it’s usually because he is cleaning out the soil, preparing it to yield a new, better harvest. All he needs is my surrendered trust. For each time I opened my hands to God, giving back to him whoever I thought belonged to me, I have always found him giving me back better things.

Knowing that doesn’t make it any easier, and it hurts each time someone we love disappoints us or walks away, but after years of trusting his hand, I realize that he only cuts out what doesn’t belong anyway.

Patricia Holbrook is a Christian author, blogger and national speaker. Her Book Twelve Inches is on sale at Barnes & Nobles, Amazon and retailers worldwide. Visit her website www.soaringwithHim.com. Email pholbrook@soaringwithHim.com

The post Trusting God in Our Loneliness {Atlanta Journal Constitution} appeared first on Soaring With Him Ministries.