Facts vs. Faith

Have you ever had to decide between what you know to be the facts staring you straight in the face and what you know to be the will of God?
I have, and I chose the will of God… and I would again, as I will again in the future. It sounds weird but the way I came to writing this post and contemplating my thoughts for this topic were while I was considering what to do about the tires on my truck.
You see, several years ago at the prompting of the Holy Spirit, I made some career decisions that have completely changed my life. These changes have also put me in a position of total dependence on God for my families and my needs and the lessons it has taught and is teaching me has revealed several flawed areas in my own life as well as created a few issues in my home life that I am still trying to wade through. I have to admit that I still don’t have a clue where the whole thing is going, but He keeps dropping bread crumbs for me to follow whenever I get too far off track. One of the many things I am dependent on God for are some of the same things the Israelites enjoyed while wandering in the desert for forty years.

Deuteronomy 29:5 "I have led you forty years in the wilderness; your clothes have not worn out on you, and your sandal has not worn out on your foot.

I believe in many ways I have experience this… one of the more recent instances is related to the tires on my truck. Now, before I go too far into this I want you to know that I recognize the fact that I need tires. But they have gone way farther than they are supposed to… (especially the way I drive)… and I swear whenever I get to looking at them and worrying about how bald they look, the next time I consider them they seem to have grown more tread… I know it sounds crazy but it’s true. But that thought is neither here nor there for my point to be made.

Throughout each day I have these ongoing conversations with God. Today the talk surrounded my tires and the inevitable snow that will come with winter. I was telling God that by now I had expected Him to work things out so I could have bought some new tires… I reminded Him that winter was coming. And then He shoved this thought right into my stubborn minded pea brain… “You don’t need tires to help you drive safely through the winter… you need Me to drive you safely through the winter, and I can do it on new or old tires”. Now I am certain that at some point He will provide an avenue for me to afford some new tires… but the thought He gave me remains, end it extends far beyond my need for tires.
We (I) rely far too much on what we see and know to make the decisions that govern our lives. Not that we should throw all rational thought out the window in order to follow God… but sometimes the things He is asking us to do don’t add up to what we have to do it with. You have to be very careful here, and be sure that you are hearing from God and not your own will or desires, or somebody else’s misguided idea of what Gods will for you is. But when you are absolutely certain He is taking you in a particular direction and it is flying in the face of what you know the facts to be… just remember…

It’s not the condition of the tires that will get you safely through the winter, it is God, and He can do it on what ever kind of tires He decides He wants to use.