Blessings of a Brother
From November 2009 - Reading through posts from ten years ago has been a great experience. I wish I had done it earlier but also know God's timing is perfect. I needed to read so many of them exactly when I did. My brother has traveled through other jobs since the post was written ten years ago, but he is still walking by Faith in God. God is still good all of the time.
As we count down the days until Thanksgiving, I want to take a few minutes to tell how Thankful I am for my brother, Tim. My brother has been one of my best friends for as long as I can remember. I don't know how he felt growing up, but to me it was like he and I facing the world together. Whenever we played pioneer or wagon train, he was always the brother doing the hunting and "manly" things while I stayed and cooked over a "fire" and did the "womanly" tasks. When he was really young I let him be Ken while playing Barbies. I'm sure he would much have preferred G.I. Joes.
We've come a long, long road since wagon train and playing by the creek. Yet with families of our own we are both still facing adventures every day. It's just that now they are adventures of faith and trust in God rather than pretend adventures under the apple tree. I have watched my brother grow and mature in His walk with Christ. It has to be one of the sweetest answers to prayer God has given me. I am so proud of Tim. Not with an ungodly sort of pride, but an I am so blessed by him type.
To some, the economic downturn in our nation has brought about disaster. For my brother Tim, it has brought him right back around to the destiny God has for him. Yes, he lost his job, but no, he isn't out of work. He has reopened his own construction business that God led him to begin several years ago. Not only is Tim back where God put him, he has jobs to work at too. Isn't God good? I absolutely love, love, love watching God work. Guess what! God has done even more than provide jobs for his business. He also provided the perfect vehicle for the business too! See, it really doesn't matter what the world's system is doing. God takes care of His own.
"I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread." Psalm 37:25
"But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine." Psalm 33:18,19
"Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing. The lions may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing." Psalm 34:8-10
I am just so blessed to watch Tim step out in faith and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit day in and day out. So many, even fellow believers, wouldn't be brave enough to do what he has done. They would be fearful and hesitate. Perhaps they would keep searching for a job that would be considered "safe" simply because it provides a steady paycheck. Not my brother. He may have wanted to do that, but he didn't. He sought the Lord's leading, listened to Him, and obeyed. I am so proud of him. Because of His obedience, Tim will know a level of relationship with God that many never experience. Walking in complete faith in God with complete abandonment to "the couch of comfortable Christianity" takes the believer into a realm of closeness to the Godhead three in one only the bravely obedient know. There will be many days that it will appear to be the wrong choice, but no matter how things seem, an abandonment to obedience is never wrong.
Over and over I have listened to believers lavish praise on those brave enough to step out in faith. They laud these brothers and sisters in Christ for their great faith as if it were a great accomplishment of the individual. Yet, those who have stepped out of the boat of "Comfortable Christianity" onto the waves of radical obedience know that this great faith and anointing came at a great price. The crucifixion of our flesh can be a painful thing. To say nothing of the pain from the slivers we obtain while going against the grain of religion. Yes, to step out of the ordinary into the unknown isn't painless or easy,but it is most definitely blessed. It is an honor to be able to watch my brother in his abandonment to obedience. An honor I am thankful to have been given.
I am sure that my parents have had their socks blessed off as well. It has to be an amazing experience to witness your children step out of the boat of the normal onto the water of faith and walk across the waves to Jesus. All of the years of their faithfulness to teach and train us in the ways of the Lord are bearing much fruit. I look forward to watching our children walk with the Lord with complete faith and trust in Him as well. Isaiah 54:13, 14 Thank you Tim for being faithful to Jesus. Thank you also for being obedient when He called. A journey has begun and you will never be satisfied with "normal" again. The blessings of a brother are many, and I am blessed, blessed, blessed. Thank you Lord.