Faith + Patience {FREE PRINTABLE}

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I was reading my pastor's wife's bible study the other morning and came across this scripture in Hebrews 6:12:

"That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises."

How encouraged I felt! It is so easy as a mother {especially a SAHM/wannabe WAHM} to get used to the drudgery, the mundane, the same ol' same ol'. Days are full of fun and laughter but also routine and the occasionally "slothful" mentality and attitude.

We must not be lazy in our faith, forgetting that we have a greater hope in the life to come. This world is not our home. God has a greater purpose; a much greater home for us. As we work, He does not forget our labor. As we minister to our husbands, children, family, church...we are not forgotten.

So hold onto the promises! What He said He will do...He will do. Those who are alert, obedient and follow the examples of believers who have left behind a legacy will be rewarded. Maybe not now, but it's coming. Hold on with patience and trust that God does not withhold ANY good thing from His children! {Psalms 84:11}

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A Prayer & A Promise

Lately, things around the Pulford household have been, well, let's just say gloomy.

I don't normally like spilling the contents of our personal struggles here on the blog world, usually it's just me complaining and whining like a good lil' Christian about my own side of the story but today I feel I need to be transparent with you guys. Is that okay? Good 'cuz you don't really have a choice, it's my blog haha {seriously though}

Financially, we are sinking. FAST!
My unemployment, which was originally suppose to last until Dec of this year, got prematurely cut off by the state. Lame sauce. There goes about $800 a month down the tubes...not to mention bills piling up the wazoo and I've been stretching our groceries like Gumby. My husband and I are doing what we can with whatever resources we have, but it's not enough...not even a little! Now I'm not saying this to gain pity or to make ya'll feel bad for us. I'm sharing because I know we are not the only ones going through a storm.

The thing is, I was praying to the Lord and it went something like this:
"Lord Jesus, I know You are our Provider and I trust that You will deliver us!"
Not bad, right? Course not...however, that prayer just didn't sit right...then during my bible reading/prayer time, God placed a quote on my heart. One I haven't heard in a LONG time but can remember it being so profound. {If you don't know anything about me, know that I love quotes, collecting quotes, sharing quotes etc etc. It makes my heart happy.}

Here is what the quote states. Now I have NO idea who said it or where it came from, so I apologize I cannot give credit where it's due, but here it is:

"IF GOD BRINGS YOU TO IT, HE WILL BRING YOU THROUGH IT!!"

WHOA, RIGHT?!

God was telling me that sometimes He doesn't deliver us from our battles, not because He can't but because there is a lesson that needs to be learned by going through it. If He did deliver us, the lesson would be lost. It's not saying that He isn't going to be there! It's not saying that God is going to abandon us to fend for ourselves like Survivor. It is a promise that we serve a God that is ALWAYS bigger than our battles, and if we come up against a Goliath-sized problem, He is able to bring us THROUGH the problem, rather than over it or around it!! What an amazing promise!!

So today, as I sit here at 2am on my dim laptop thinking about our life and the current circumstances, I feel a great peace in my soul. The dishes are dirty in the sink. The floor is out of control. Time is flying by faster than Marty from Back to the Future. However, God is STILL for me...He is still for us!!

So let me encourage you, don't pray for deliverance, that may not be God's plan, but pray to be kept, anchored in Jesus, to that Rock of Salvation. For when the storm blows, the boat may rock, but the anchor keeps still!!!!!!

"For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil"

Hebrew 6:16-19 / KJV