After 17 years of living in the church parsonage,
Andrea and I have decided the time has come to purchase our own home.
However, nothing has come available to us yet. Either someone
else bought the house or it just did not “feel right.” I also
believe the Lord is teaching us patience in the process as well.
Just last week, we were about to look at a house and the realtor was
having trouble getting into the lockbox, so he called another realtor
to make sure he had the correct code. I watched as his expression
changed. “I see,” he said. “I’ll tell him.”
He then said to me, “I am so sorry, but an offer has just been accepted
on this house.”
I think the realtor was bracing himself thinking
I would be upset. Instead, I burst out laughing. I assured
him this was not a problem and the Lord was simply closing the door
on yet another house. When we have the peace of Christ in our
hearts, even disappointments become blessing because we know all things
work together for the good for those who love God and are called
according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).
These days, thanks to the Internet, people
can search for a new house with a few clicks of a mouse. I was
searching homes on a web site the other evening when I came across something
that made me smile. I saw one listing, a beautiful home just a
few miles from us, with a price tag of 1.2 million. Further down
the page I found another, in a less expensive neighborhood, for $13,000.00.
Next to the online listing were the bold letters, “Reduced!”
I couldn’t help but look at the pictures of this home being let go
at such a bargain basement price. The humble little house appeared
ancient with wood siding, tin roof, and several boarded up windows.
The pictures made me think a strong wind might blow the entire structure
over.
As I compared the two houses, one a veritable
palace and the other a shack, I thought of my pastor friend who spent
a few weeks on mission in Africa. He told of a pastor there who
lived in a house where there was no running water, no electricity, and
few amenities of any kind. The pastor’s home had a dirt floor
and scant furnishings. While there, my pastor friend told of how
the African pastor was able to acquire a bicycle to use for visiting
the members of his congregation (They met in an open air building which
was little more than a roof on stilts). The pastor was thrilled
with the bicycle and praised God for the blessing of his new form of
transportation. No doubt, the African pastor would see the $13,000.00
house as living in luxury. The million-dollar house would be incomprehensible
to him – as it is to me as well. For countless people living
in the world, what we would call a shack, they would call a mansion.
My friends, Jesus promised to provide for
us a mansion in heaven one day, better than anything we can imagine.
In the meantime, let us be thankful, for God has provided and He knows
what we need. As for Andrea and I, we’ll keep looking.
Our “mansion” is out there somewhere I am sure.
God bless you today.
