No Smoke Alarm Needed

This month found us dealing with a failed transmission. Stuff like this only seems to happen during Liquid Luster's slow season. I don't think it's just because when it rains it pours, or because shit happens. I believe it's because it gives me a chance to prove this faith I claim to have as real. Do I still believe in Jesus when I'm walking in the fire, or do I fall apart as soon as I feel heat? God gave me emotions, (hormones), feelings, a heart that feels joy and ache, so I don't feel like I'm doing wrong in feeling stressed. It's all in how I handle it. This is a HUGE struggle for me. My default wants to freak out, cry, and rock back and forth in the corner at the first sign of financial stress. I don't really know why this is my gut reaction. Maybe it's because we started our marriage off mailing our rent check each month with a note that said, "Please do not cash until the 5th." Maybe it's because I've known what the "overdraft" envelope looks like before I even open it. Whatever the reason, I'm determined to get to a place where trust is more dominant than fear in these situations. And our transmission decided to give me the opportunity to work on this.


As I'm writing, this blog has gone in a different direction than I planned. I'm going to go with it, and save what I thought I was going to write about for next time. Who knew my mechanic's bill would inspire two blogs. (If only I could pay for the failed transmission in blogs.)


A lesson I heard has come to mind, and it fits perfectly with these thoughts about genuine faith in tough circumstances. In the book of Daniel it talks about the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. The king at the time said that anyone who refused to worship the idol made of gold would be thrown into a fiery furnace. Yet these men would only worship God. When they were thrown in the fire, the king said he saw four men, even though only three had been thrown in. Some say the fourth was an angel. Some say Jesus. Either way, God did not give them over to the flames that were so hot they killed the very guards who threw them in. They trusted in God, and he walked through the fire with them. The part that gives me goosebumps talks about when the three came out of the fire. Daniel 3:27 says "They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them." I want to take this financial strain, and not let it cause me to waiver. I am choosing to trust that if I walk through the fire with God, I can come out the other side not only alive, but without even a hint of smoke on me.