Peace, Guidance, and Trust

by Ben

I read Psalm 34-37.

It is amazing how God works in our lives. The comfort He gives is astounding.

In house-hunting, we found the place on Orchard on Thursday of last week. It seemed perfect! It seemed to have everything that Kate and I could want or need (and for such an incredible price for the location!). Darcy, my step-sister and our realtor, called the realtor that represented the seller to find out the details. It turned out that the seller now lives in California and recently dropped the price after a previous buyer's credit had fallen through.

Now, there is another bidder for the house, but they apparently put in a very low offer. So, the following day, Kate and I, after praying and thinking about it (and talking to our loan consultant), put in a bid. We waited to hear the response. I wish I could say that we were patient. Nerves set in. Anxiety set in. And this had only been after four hours of waiting. Well, Sunday night rolls around and we are at the Family Swim Night put on by CPC at the Canton YMCA. As I'm teaching my Confirmation Class, my phone rings. It is Darcy. I hand the phone to Kate so she can take the call while I continue to teach.

After the lesson is over, I find out that the other bidder upped their bid once they'd heard we were around. ::UGH!!!:: "Why can't it just be easy?!" At the same time, Kate and I learned that a friend of ours was having some serious medical problems. We might need to go get her and take her to the hospital. This was about as much mental stress as I could handle at the moment.

So, Kate and I sat down in the middle of the YMCA's lobby and prayed. The prayer was for guidance and peace in both situations. We thanked God for allowing us to be considering a house, when so many do not have that option. We thanked Him for the love that he'd shown us in our relationship thus far. But mostly, we prayed for guidance and peace.

And I'll tell you what, after the prayer was over and I looked up at Kate, I felt as calm as I've ever felt. And the decisions we had to make were easy. I told Kate how I felt and she felt the same way. We contacted our friend to make sure she was okay (and make arrangements, if need be). And we called Darcy and upped our bid on the house.

But this time it was different. We didn't feel the worry or anxiety. If we didn't get the house, it wasn't a big deal; we had other options. We just trusted God on where He was leading us. So, when we got the call that we were now homeowners. It was, of course, complete joy. But really, it was just an extension of the feeling of peace, guidance, and on our part, trust.