God's House

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We had not been seeking to purchase a house. Yes, in the past we had. Yes, it was a dream of mine to settle down and own our own home.  BUT all of the doors had closed when we tried to purchase a home. God said “NO… now is not the time.” We thought He might be saying “Never is the time.” We have always trusted in the Lord’s provision for living places, and as our journey with Him has taken us on a bit of a roller-coaster ride in regards to housing, we have learned that He will ALWAYS provide… He is our Father.  We looked to the verses “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.” (Matthew 6:19) We had some in savings, but decided against using it for a house downpayment, as we have been commanded to “lay your treasure in heaven” (Matthew 6:20). We had given up on the idea of ever owning a house in this life.

BUT then a Christian brother came up to us and said, “you need a house. God can do anything, and He can provide a house for you! This is a basic need, providing for your family.” Long story short, this was the spark that got us thinking again about purchasing a home. We thought, “okay, God, are you telling us now is the time to buy?” I thought we couldn’t afford it, and I have to pay for school as well. Jared said “If we’re going to buy a house it needs to be 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom, for guests.” I said, “yeah, right… do you know how much 4-bedroom houses cost? We can’t even hardly afford a 3-bedroom house!” BUT we looked at the market, and there happened to be a 4-bdr/2-bath house in a “lower” price range, with an open visitation that very weekend. So we went to check it out… we thought, “this would fit the bill.”

 I called a lender to see about a house loan… it didn’t look very good, however most of the “boxes” I had to have ticked, were.  After one disappointing night when I thought we couldn’t do it, and God was closing the door, I thought, “Why God, would that man say something to us, if this wasn’t your will? Why did we have to try this again, only to be denied again?”… I drove to the house and prayed. “Lord, this is Your house. I can’t do anything about it. I’d love it if you gave it to us, but if not, Thank you for the house you’ve already provided for us to live in…”  That very night we had a meeting with a broker who said, “Yes! You can do this! I’ll apply for a loan for you.” 5 minutes AFTER speaking with her, the real estate lady called: “What do you think about their counter-offer?” Prior to the broker’s meeting, I would have replied that we couldn’t do it.  However, I told her what the broker said, and she responded, “Great! I’ll start you on a contract on Monday!” I was overwhelmed. I couldn’t believe it. God was giving us this house, I knew it.

The verses that God gave me were “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33), but more than that, was this verse: “Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” (Matthew 7:9-11) I kept these verses in my heart.

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Our loan application was DENIED by the bank. I almost thought God was going back on His Word to me. I thought, “Lord, didn’t you promise me this house through those verses? Am I doing something wrong?  Are You going back on Your promise?!” The broker appealed the bank’s decision. DENIED yet again. By this time I had real peace about it. I knew that if God wanted to provide this house for us, HE COULD DO IT. HE IS SOVEREIGN OVER ALL CREATION. I didn’t need to fret just because of the bank people. So I didn’t. The mortgage broker apologized for getting our hopes up and counseled that if I worked part time for a few months, we could reapply… I informed her that I had previously had a part time job, but took a break during the school semester to focus on my studies, and was welcome back to work whenever I wanted to. She told me to get two payslips and a letter from the workplace stating that I had been an employee there, and she could reapply…. We asked the vendors selling the house if they were willing to extend the contract for this finance to be worked out… they agreed! Lo and Behold, I went back to work just a few days, the loan was approved, and now we’re moving into the house that God provided for us.

I am still blown away by the LORD’s provision. It’s a great house, but one that definitely needs some work.  We are not even worthy of anything in this life, and yet God is faithful to His children and provides their “daily bread.” He has done this time and again in our lives.  May we use this house He has provided for His glory, and may we worship Him in it. God be praised!