This was sort of reminiscent of the story of Noah. God told Noah to build an ark, and when it was built, and everyone (and everything) was in it, God shut the door. No human hand could open it. What faith Noah had to not only listen to God and do a most unusual thing as to build a boat when they were no where near water, but also to put himself inside a vessel, and be shut in with nothing but his immediate family, stinky animals and provisions.(Our situation was similar, My husband, my mother, my son and our dog all traveling the over 300 miles from our old home to our new home) Noah had no idea what he was in for. And we didn't either, but we trusted....We trusted God was moving us to a place where he wanted us, just like Noah. However, when the door closed on the job that was supporting our family, and allowing me to be a stay at home mom, fear and uncertainty easily crept in. Now, the door is shut. No one can open it but God.
After 40 days, Noah let a bird out of the window which was way up high on the ark. The first few times, the bird came back to the ark, unable to find a place to nest. Then on another day, the bird was let loose again, and never came back. It was at that point that God opened the door and the family and animals were able to walk out of the ark and start their new life.
During our time in the ark, my hubby was able to file for unemployment, but that didn't kick in for a couple of weeks. He tried to apply for other jobs, but for some reason nothing worked out. We had an emergency fund set up (Thank you, Dave Ramsey) so we were still able to pay bills, have groceries, etc. Being the awesomely smart guy that my hubby is, he had paid most of our bills ahead, so we did not have to go into arrears.
Still in the ark, he was able to garner some work with a friend of his, but it wasn't enough to support a family. Then the unthinkable happened. The door opened back up again. God brought his hand down and swung that door open! The company that laid him off offered his job back again. Same pay, same seniority, everything.
The door of the ark opened....the sun was shining down to light our way on the path. Do we follow it? Or do we stay inside the ark and wait some more, or maybe even make our home in this place that we have lived in for these past few weeks. We prayed, we talked, and we decided it was best for our family for him to accept the offer and go back to working 3rd shift, 5-6 days a week....so out of the ark we went.
God is good, and has been good during this boat ride in the storm. In Psalm 37:25, the bible says I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.
Thank You, Lord for keeping your hand on our journey, and for directing the way in which we should go.
