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everal years ago, our daughter was offered a chance to run cross country and track at a small Christian university in Oregon, where we were living and serving the Lord at the time. Our excitement for our daughter was greatly dampened, however, when the school’s business office informed us what our monthly out-of-pocket cost would be for her to attend—even after scholarships were applied.
Though we had prayed and asked God to provide an opportunity like this for our daughter, and watched Him open a door seemingly out of nowhere, the monthly payment was far more than we thought we could afford. It just didn’t make sense on paper.
We decided to take our daughter on an official visit to the university anyway. So we made our way west across the Cascade mountain range, made the visit, and started our trek back to Central Oregon later that evening. On the way home, as we drove back through the mountain pass, I grieved about having to tell our daughter she wouldn’t be able to attend this school.
Then a moment happened I know I will always remember. As I drove, God interrupted my silent pity party and confirmed my worst fears: trying to send our daughter to this school to pursue her dreams didn’t make sense, at least to a human mind like mine. But if my wife and I were willing to blindly trust the same God who created the universe from nothing, He might do something our human minds couldn’t imagine.
"My faith grew on the mountain pass that day, and as God has continued the work He and He alone started, that faith has only strengthened."
Right there on that mountain pass, I confessed my faithlessness to my wife and daughter and proclaimed that we would trust the work God had already been doing—even if it made no sense to move forward. Lord willing, I’ll see that mountain pass again next spring as we fly over it on the way to watch our daughter graduate from that university.
What are the marks of a growing disciple of Christ? I’d submit to you that among all the disciplines you can put on the list, none is greater—or harder to measure—than faith growth. My faith grew on the mountain pass that day, and as God has continued the work He and He alone started, that faith has only strengthened. Yet even now, I’ve got so much more room to grow.
Why am I telling you this? Part of me wants to encourage you. Every … single … day we are faced with so much that can discourage and blind us to the work God is doing around us—including the work we’ve asked Him to do! Another part of me is painfully aware that we live in a complicated world filled with people who don’t believe God exists at all and followers of Christ who struggle to sense the presence of God or the work of God in their lives.
That’s why sharing these stories matters so much. They’re so important, we dedicate a couple of pages in our magazine each month to allow you to tell your God stories in our “What’s Your Story?” section. They serve as proof of a living and active God who loves us and who is working all things together for good—whether we understand how He is doing that or not.
What are the significant moments that have happened in your life? Why were those moments so meaningful to you? And as you can see it now, how did God change you through those moments?
Set your mind on these things, and when you figure them out, go and tell the people in your church. Go and tell your neighbor and the lady at the grocery store.
Go and tell the world.
