Embrace the Journey

 

For about a month, we stayed at an Airbnb in Logan Square in Chicago. I had to park my car on the street, and the congestion of the street was out of this world. I had never seen such tight parking. When we first got there, I was in tears trying to find a parking place, and I felt so lost. 

 

It was uncomfortable to be somewhere new and so unfamiliar. I grew up in a quiet suburb town in Michigan, and I wanted to go “home” so badly, even though I didn’t have a home. 

 

Before God sent us on this faith journey, He gave me a promise that He would be our home and that we would not be homeless. He said that if I followed Him with faith and obedience, that He would give us an incredible home after the faith lessons of this journey were through. 

 

God also told me to “be at rest in whatever room you are in” and then He gave me a promise to rescue us and always provide us with the comfortable shelter of a room from Him, no matter where we traveled through. 

 

Since the past year, when God led me to travel to another state with only enough money for one night at a hotel, we have been in many, many rooms. God has put us in cheap hotel rooms, and fancy hotel rooms. We have stayed in Airbnb’s scary areas and in beautiful areas. 

 

God kept us in and around Chicago, with a promise to go back home to Michigan after this story that He was writing for us was through. It has not been absent of dangers, but God has kept us safe. 

 

In one Airbnb that was on the South side of the city, we had our car stolen, but then thankfully the police recovered it within a few weeks. So now I use an old-fashioned ‘club’ on my car to help keep it from being taken away. 

 

After only 2 weeks of getting my car back from being stolen, the thieves came by again and stole my catalytic converter. Yet again, God made a way for me to get that fixed too. 

 

There has been relentless warfare throughout the journey, but for every attack, the salvation of Jesus could come and save us again and again and again. 

 

At the last Airbnb, the warfare was intense as we were nearing the end of our stay. I had accidentally broken the bathroom window, and I had so many ‘what if’’ fears coming against me. 

 

There were the fears of a bad review, and not being able to get a place through Airbnb anymore. Then my car was overdue again, and there was the fear of it getting repo’d again, and leaving us stranded in the city with no way to use the bathroom, or put our things. 

 

If it was just me, it wouldn’t mind. I only carry one bag with me, and I have weaned myself down to owning almost nothing. However, I have my youngest daughter with me, and she has so many things. The weight of her belongings has been something that I must continuously give to God to hold and protect. 

 

It was only two days before check out of that Logan Square Airbnb, and I was getting so many fears coming against me, that it was like trying to kayak through very rough waters. 

 

It was both sweet and bitter. I was so thankful to have a place of refuge, but I was also in unbearable anguish to have no place to rest…. I mean completely rest. Having to always leave, wherever we go, is beyond exhausting. I had to work hard not to allow myself to drown in self-pity, but to be thankful to God for saving our life. 

 

When God saved me as a single, homeless mother, I vowed my life to Him for keeping us from living in the woods back in Florida, with snakes, gators, and all the men that lived in the woods as well. 

 

My joy of being saved was beyond the pain of having to follow this path God made for me and obey. This has been bitter-sweet, so sweet to be saved, but so bitter to live this way. 

 

I used to claim to have faith, but I didn’t really know faith until I had to risk our life through life and death situations and put all of our weight on God’s words and vows to us. 

 

When you are faced with a life and death situation, suddenly, all the hidden fears and places of unbelief come out like snakes in the fire. I had no idea how much deliverance I needed, until I was faced with death, with only God’s promise to save us. 

 

When I was at that Airbnb, there were times when the fear was coming against me so strong, that I had to constantly turn God’s promises over and over in my mind, to keep away the fearful thoughts. 

 

I made these audio faith recordings, which I sell on my store. The one I used the most is called “Love Support”. I would walk up and down the crowded sidewalk all day long, listening to Love Support, while pressing all of my faith to believe. 

 

Then, I would tell myself God’s promises to us over and over to calm and soothe my frantic soul. I would think about what I hoped to be done, because God was telling me to lean into the anchor of hope. 

 

Like paddling from side to side against the strong currents of fear, doubt, unbelief, I would use my faith to push through the warfare that was trying to bring me into a bad outcome. 

 

At last, the breakthrough came, and the waters were finally calm. Everything turned out better than I hoped. The owner of the home was extremely kind and did not get upset or give us a bad review. 

 

My car didn’t get towed, and we were not stranded. God had promised that He would protect my car, and He gave me a detailed promise of a certain amount that He would send to pay it in time, before it would be taken. 

 

God opened a window of rescue and sent us money to go back to a hotel, where I find myself in a new faith test, and in preparation of where God will take us next.

 

More than anything, it is about what we believe. Because I chose to believe God’s promise and the outcome of my hopes, that is what happened. A curse only has power, if you believe it does. Just like fear only will come true, if we believe it will. 

 

When paddling in a kayak, the core is engaged to be the center of strength. In the same way, we have to engage in what we will believe in order to determine the outcome that we see. 

 

Whatever our core belief is, is what will materialize into our life. That is why it is important to guard your faith and steer yourself away from fearful, doubtful thinking. 

 

Whatever we are, in the core of our belief, is what will be tangibly seen. That is why so many people fail to see the fulfillment of God’s promises in their life. Because they have inner agreements with bad outcomes, fears, doubts. 

 

All that is in our core is what will come out in our circumstances. It takes continuous determination to change what we think about and what we believe to see the promises of God come out in our times of need. 

 

Rest is the most powerful act of faith, but for many, before we can rest in the promise, we need to paddle through the chopping waves of fears, thoughts of bad outcomes, and the strong currents of unbelief.  

 

Faith must be exercised, and not just spoken as an opinion. As much as I detest going through so many of these life and death threats and having no place to stay more than a few days, I am thankful that God has given me the experience of encountering His life-saving love. 

 

It is by encountering His love to save us and fulfill His words, that I am able to trust, and know in the core of my being, that His words are faithful and true. God is strengthening my core through these exercises of faith and encounters with His promises fulfilled. 

 

What we are going through is preparing us for the best of the best. Just as, Joseph spent time preparing in the prison, before being brought to the castle. He was being trained in His core to be able to carry the weight of God’s blessings. 

 

What we may not want to go through now, is what prepares us to enter the dreams given to us by God. It is going to be even better than you have hoped, imagined, or dreamed. 

 

The path to the miraculous is paved with difficulties, so that we can see and believe all that God promised to be. It happens inside first as we believe before it is seen. The dangers and enemy attacks will be swallowed by the sea, as God parts the water, for you enter into the fullness of the dream. 

 

So enjoy your journey, because the grounds are beautiful, and the path that God takes you through leads to more wonders than you can even prepare to behold. The low places of difficulties are a gateway into dreams, and God is leading you into the fulfillment of everything He promised you. 

 

 

 

This is Dannette from Diamonds from the Dust, I love you. 

 

Listen Here: https://youtu.be/vqlF2QLd4Cc

 

 

https://diamondsfromthedust.com/