Hello All,
We are now just 6 days away from our scheduled departure for Spain. As of this writing, we still have heard nothing from the Spanish Consulate regarding the remaining necessary visas for Lela, Renae, Caleb and Elizabeth. Though mine is a "guarantee" of theirs, they still need theirs to travel. The next time that they can travel legally to Spain without a visa is September 22nd. European countries mandate a 90 day interval between trips, so that is non-negotiable. Because of these facts, we are looking at the possibility of delaying our return to Jerez until that time. Each time we delay our tickets, it is costly, so we want to delay them only once.
At this point, the cutoff date for that decision is this upcoming Monday. If the visas are not in at that time, then we will be delaying our return to Jerez.
Now, I must admit that this is not the favored path. I am voting for the quickest possible return, next Wednesday would be nice, but when I came to the Lord, I gave Him the title to my life and to our family's life. My time is His time. As such, I have stopped praying, "God, let the visas come through by next Wednesday." I have, in earnest, been praying, "God, Lord Jesus, Your will be done." And from there, I joyfully accept whatever comes as His best plan for my life and the life of my family.
This resignation has not come naturally, for it has come by cutting away things from my own desires and logical thought progression. His ways are higher than ours, and He does all things well, but it is my mind that always needs to re-embrace these truths.
Thankfully, I had some help from my Pastor's message on Wednesday Night. I had gone in to church and I was asking the Lord to speak to my heart. God is ever faithful to meet those with such motivation. (By the way, I am thankful to have a Pastor that has been faithful to prepare a message, from a text that might not necessarily be found in the Speakers Top 10! Thank You Pastor Ed!) He spoke from Jeremiah 39 about the contrast between Zedekiah, the foolish puppet King and Jeremiah, the faithful prophet. The message is on the Packinghouse's Webcast from Wednesday Night, and is worthy of a listen, but one quote really stood out to me. And I quote, "God's methods for dealing with life's problems often seem to the natural mind, the wrong way to fix a problem." At this point, I could have yelled a hearty "AMEN!" Then came the clincher: "The right way is not usually the cheapest, or the fastest or the easiest way to progress in life."
It hit me like a lightning bolt and I sat there with my mouth open at how profound that word was. Then Pastor closed with a story about a man of influence who was wanting to get his son finished with school more quickly than usual and proceeded to attempt a bribe. The administrator replied that his son could go through a shorter course and mentioned that when God wanted to make an oak, it took 400 years, but that he could also make a pumpkin in a matter of months. The question was'nt and isn't whether there is a shorter course. The question is what result would I rather have?
I want God's will to be done. 2 more months or 2 more years is nothing to Him! I am no different though than anyone else. I am the soldier for Jesus who wants to be decorated, but doesn't want to face any battles. I want to be stronger, but I don't want to exercise. I want to be a giant of the faith, but never have to trust in Jesus for what is not happening in my life. These are impossibilities. So pray with us that the Lord's Will would be accomplished. Only then will we see the best works of the Lord come to fruition.
Blessings To The Friends Of Spain,
Frank Sanchez
We are now just 6 days away from our scheduled departure for Spain. As of this writing, we still have heard nothing from the Spanish Consulate regarding the remaining necessary visas for Lela, Renae, Caleb and Elizabeth. Though mine is a "guarantee" of theirs, they still need theirs to travel. The next time that they can travel legally to Spain without a visa is September 22nd. European countries mandate a 90 day interval between trips, so that is non-negotiable. Because of these facts, we are looking at the possibility of delaying our return to Jerez until that time. Each time we delay our tickets, it is costly, so we want to delay them only once.
At this point, the cutoff date for that decision is this upcoming Monday. If the visas are not in at that time, then we will be delaying our return to Jerez.
Now, I must admit that this is not the favored path. I am voting for the quickest possible return, next Wednesday would be nice, but when I came to the Lord, I gave Him the title to my life and to our family's life. My time is His time. As such, I have stopped praying, "God, let the visas come through by next Wednesday." I have, in earnest, been praying, "God, Lord Jesus, Your will be done." And from there, I joyfully accept whatever comes as His best plan for my life and the life of my family.
This resignation has not come naturally, for it has come by cutting away things from my own desires and logical thought progression. His ways are higher than ours, and He does all things well, but it is my mind that always needs to re-embrace these truths.
Thankfully, I had some help from my Pastor's message on Wednesday Night. I had gone in to church and I was asking the Lord to speak to my heart. God is ever faithful to meet those with such motivation. (By the way, I am thankful to have a Pastor that has been faithful to prepare a message, from a text that might not necessarily be found in the Speakers Top 10! Thank You Pastor Ed!) He spoke from Jeremiah 39 about the contrast between Zedekiah, the foolish puppet King and Jeremiah, the faithful prophet. The message is on the Packinghouse's Webcast from Wednesday Night, and is worthy of a listen, but one quote really stood out to me. And I quote, "God's methods for dealing with life's problems often seem to the natural mind, the wrong way to fix a problem." At this point, I could have yelled a hearty "AMEN!" Then came the clincher: "The right way is not usually the cheapest, or the fastest or the easiest way to progress in life."
It hit me like a lightning bolt and I sat there with my mouth open at how profound that word was. Then Pastor closed with a story about a man of influence who was wanting to get his son finished with school more quickly than usual and proceeded to attempt a bribe. The administrator replied that his son could go through a shorter course and mentioned that when God wanted to make an oak, it took 400 years, but that he could also make a pumpkin in a matter of months. The question was'nt and isn't whether there is a shorter course. The question is what result would I rather have?
I want God's will to be done. 2 more months or 2 more years is nothing to Him! I am no different though than anyone else. I am the soldier for Jesus who wants to be decorated, but doesn't want to face any battles. I want to be stronger, but I don't want to exercise. I want to be a giant of the faith, but never have to trust in Jesus for what is not happening in my life. These are impossibilities. So pray with us that the Lord's Will would be accomplished. Only then will we see the best works of the Lord come to fruition.
Blessings To The Friends Of Spain,
Frank Sanchez
2 comments:
Frank, what a GREAT post. Your words spoke volumes to my heart. It is often very difficult to wait, to trust that things are going to go one way and sometimes they go the other. I am humbled by some of the things you said...
"I am the soldier for Jesus who wants to be decorated, but doesn't want to face any battles. I want to be stronger, but I don't want to exercise. I want to be a giant of the faith, but never have to trust in Jesus for what is not happening in my life."
That is often how I feel and am certain that that's how many, dare I say, MOST Christians feel... It was very refreshing to hear you speak the truth like that and I thank you! We are continuing our prayers for you and your family. I love you my friend!!
Brad,ahem.....LLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!,
Thanks for the kind words on the post! The Lord is good all of the time...even when all things seem not-so-good! My next post will talk more about that!
Luvin you brotha!
F.S.
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