Do You Want Peace Now or Later?

In early 1999, I was a stay-at-home mom of two boys, ages 7 and 9. We had been living in our first house for about 7 years and God was blessing us with a new house that was in the process of being built. My husband had been an employee at his company for about 7 years, and there were rumors of layoffs. I told him that if he was laid off that he’d better call me before coming home to ease the harsh news. Within a day or two, I received a call from him.

He came home, started looking for a new job, and I started praying. Almost from the start the Lord gave me an incredible peace about the entire situation. We had no savings, I had no job and we had two children and a mortgage – the only peace that was possible to have was from the Lord.

God was good to give me the following verses to hold onto:

“For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper. When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you.

Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, lest-when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; who led you through that great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the flinty rock; who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you good in the end-then you say in your heart, My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.

And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.” (Deuteronomy 8:7-18)

We had already put money down on this brand new house, but there was so much in the air at this point with my husband being out of a job that there was no way in the physical realm to know if we would lose the house or not. But when God spoke these words into my heart, I knew that He was giving us the new house.

And that wasn’t even the end of the layoffs. My husband was hired and laid off about 4 more times in that same year before the house was ever completed. But I kept reading these words of Moses and knowing that they were meant for us, too. And the part that always stood out to me was this: “When you have eaten and are full, then you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you. Beware that you do not forget the Lord your God..”

The Lord reminded me over and over that yes, I am going to give you a land that is better than you could have ever imagined, but do not ever think that you have built this yourselves, it is a gift from Me. Remember to always be thankful for it.

And indeed, my husband secured a job that was better than we would have ever imagined having just before the house was finished being built. And the Lord moved us into a house with things we had not had in our previous house: some space, two bathrooms, carpeting in all the rooms, a garage for all the junk we were blessed with, and a beautiful, sparkly, new dishwasher. Yes! I was no longer the dishwasher! Well, at least I had help.

Compared to where we had been living, we really did feel like God had moved us into the land of olive oil and honey. We even have valleys and hills, and the Lord provided us with our own “fountain and spring” in our backyard in the form of a pool with a waterfall. Amazing and miraculous.

The Lord had given us what we needed in our previous house and we were careful to live wisely on the one income we had, no credit cards, and we tithed faithfully. And now He was blessing us with more. It was nothing of ourselves, but purely the goodness of the Lord.

There are many right now who have been laid off, or their incomes have been cut drastically, and they’re wondering what the future holds. I will tell you what the future holds. The future holds Jesus.

At the first sign of trouble, do you turn to Him or do you try to figure things out on your own? There is much peace that we forfeit by waiting to use God as our last resort. He should be the first place we go when we don't know what to do, and even when we think we do.

If you lack peace today, look to the One who holds everything in His hands. Go to Him for direction and then, when He tells you to, move in complete trust.

Be faithful with what He has given you and remember that it is He who has given it. And when He blesses you, take care lest you become prideful and think that your own hands have made it.

Praise His Name and remember Him. Seek Him in the day of trouble and in the day of plenty. Honor Him in all you do and He will take care of you.