The Narrow Way

I was almost in tears when “Janet” called me.

She had offered to come and help paint our house, which is not small, shortly after we moved in. Painting was one of many projects on our expanding to-do list. Janet was unaware of the turmoil I was in only moments before. She didn’t realize her call was EXACTLY the kind of reassurance I needed. 🙌 The only thing she knew: God was bringing me to her mind—repeatedly nudging her to pick up the phone—and she decided to listen. It didn’t matter that it had been 5 years since we had seen each other or conversed. She felt led to call, and in doing so became a direct answer to prayer.

When we purchased our property in 2017, we did it by faith. We had prayed for years for a place just like it, but always assumed we’d be much older before we could afford it. Yet, through a series of small miracles, there we were in our early 30s settling into a dream. While our property had many perks, there were a lot of things we wanted to change to “make it our own” too. With both of us working full time, we quickly realized free time was lacking and we felt we were in over our heads. 😬😰

Shortly after moving, I found out I was pregnant. Though this was an incredible joy, it was also a new level of stress as we now had a timeline on some projects.

I remember my mind was racing with our to-do list…

“What MUST be done before the baby comes? What can wait? Painting can happen when it’s colder. Right now we need to process vegetables. What about a nursery? What about the soffits and facia, they’re starting to rot 😕”

And on and on it went…I felt overwhelmed…😰

I leashed the dog for a walk, and as I walked I prayed. I reminded God that He brought us to this property. It was His. I reminded Him that despite waiting nearly 5 years for a baby, He chose now. I knew His timing was perfect, but it sure seemed inconvenient. 😬When I finished unloading, I felt I should just leave everything to Him, rather than come up with a plan of action, 1 Peter 5:7 came to mind to be specific:

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”

So, that’s what I did. In every way I could think to, I cast my cares upon God and left them there.

This wasn’t a natural approach for me, I’m not the sort to sit back and wait, but I really didn’t know how else to manage the needs with the available manpower, budget, and time. I reasoned that if something must get done, God would send help. 🤷‍♀️ If He wanted HIS property well cared for, He needed to continue to provide for it, because there simply weren’t enough hours in the day.

I felt so much peace with this. It wasn’t like I didn’t still want things done, I desperately did, but I was refusing to strive, be anxious, or worry anymore. We would do what we could do and trust God for the rest. 😌

It was only about a minute after this that my phone rang. It was Janet.

“I heard you’re back in the area,” she said. Conversation went on and we proceeded to catch up. I shared my struggle of “to-dos” as well as the joy of a baby on the way. That’s when she said, “I love to paint! Let’s find a time I can come over and help.” 😳🤯😭

It may seem silly, being so wound up about a to-do list that an offer to help would feel like the Red Sea parting, but it did. I felt a weight lift off my shoulders. God knew. God saw. God cared and was making a way. Perhaps God would take care of this place after all, 🤔 🤷‍♀️ because we certainly didn’t seem to have the manpower for it!

Janet came and painted, she was like the Energizer Bunny unleashed on our behalf 😂 She was such a blessing. Not only had she shown up in a time of need, but she came back multiple times to help us make huge progress—including one day while I was gone at work when she painted our entire nursery! 😭 ❤️

This may seem like a small story, the needs of a weak and easily overwhelmed person, and in many ways—it is! 🙈🤣 Receiving some help with painting seems hardly worth writing about. Does she not know that there are people out there with much bigger problems? Real problems?

Sure I do. 🙃 I’m fully aware of the scale of this compared to the issues many face. BUT—I share this because for most of us, our struggles aren’t great in magnitude, but in frequency. Most often, our struggles are the small day to day things like a leaky faucet when you’re already sinking 😅. Generally, we don’t need the Red Sea to part, we just need a little help. What we often need is to know that God hears, God cares, He is able, and He is willing. Unfortunately, we often just forget to ask God in the difficult moment. As James says, “you have not because you ask not” (4:2).

“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’” Jer 33:3

God WILL answer us when we *remember* to call to Him. When He does, He may reveal ‘things we do not know,” like the mysteries of God, or it may be much simpler, like a strategy for our problem. His resources are endless, His ability to problem solve far beyond ours, and His commitment to honor His Word is eternal. He WILL answer us, even in the most random ways like having an old friend reach out in the exact moment of need! The key is—we have to ask. 😉

It’s been 4 years to the day since this happened, since Janet spontaneously called me after a 5 year gap. I know this because it was a FB memory that showed up today. Yet the lesson hasn’t expired, and as I reflect now, it’s not been mastered either 🤦‍♀️😂🙈

As always, thanks for stopping by.