For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed–a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” Romans 1:17
My hubby, Mr. Hunter himself, sent me an email a few weeks back that made my jaw drop. It simply asked what I thought about going away on his week off. Was he talking about the week that it’s just him and the deer? That week when he transforms into a highly focused hunter out to provide food for his family? If I was right, we’re talking about the week that reduces him to grunts from full sentences. That’s the week that he looks forward to all year! Was that the week he was talking about?
When I got the email, I thought someone might be forcing him to write it. There was something wrong with my hubby! I’m telling you that I started to wonder if he was ok. Of course I love to have time away because I always seem to learn and grow when we look at life through different adventures, but I didn’t see how it was possible even if he was serious. First, it was his hunting week! Second, we had stuff scheduled on the calendar. Third, it wasn’t in the budget. I brushed off the moment of insanity from my hubby and told him it wasn’t possible.
Wouldn’t you know that I got a check in my spirit? Was I shutting doors that we were meant to go through? I gently brought it up later on when I could actually see his face. He wasn’t joking at all and told me it was like a tidal wave came over him and we needed to go. Wow! If he felt that strongly, I needed to think about this. Soon after, I received a message that told me to start using faith and not logic. I like logic! Logic is easy for me. I love faith, but I admit that logic will sometimes get in my way of that faith.
I still wasn’t completely on board and even thought he was a bit crazy, so I prayed that God would close doors if we weren’t supposed to go through them. Wouldn’t you know that not only did the doors not close, He might as well have paved the path with gold bricks and lined them with arrows leading to the great big, opened door! First, my hubby was actually excited to get some fishing in and wasn’t worried about the hunting. Second, it was the only week on the calendar surrounded by weeks of completely filled squares that only had one appointment scheduled. Third, my hubby insisted we not worry about the budget for this.
Everything was looking like we actually could do it on our end, but the test would be finding a place to stay. Again, God might as well have taken those arrows and put blinking lights on them. You wouldn’t even believe the favor that was being shown to us. It wasn’t just finding a place that I’m talking about either. I’m talking about having a beautiful place dropped in our lap that by all accounts should’ve been impossible. When we start using faith and not logic, it’s amazing what God will do!
Since the logistics of it all were settled, the packing was next. Books are important to us when we travel. We pretty much always have one that we can learn and grow from. I had that one, but I wanted one that was funny and entertaining this time too. I was hoping it would have us laughing as much as one of Patrick McManus’s articles would. I had high hopes for the book that I found, and after a couple hours in the vehicle, I started talking up this book that I thought would be so much fun for us.
We were all excited to start reading the first story in it. I mean I really had everyone’s attention. It began a little differently than I expected, but I was sure we’d be getting to the really funny part soon. Then, not long into the story I stopped reading and we all sat in stunned silence. Umm, it was about death. My family wanted to know what kind of book I brought for entertainment.
I strongly considered giving up on the book right then and there, and I think my family would’ve preferred that. My logic said that it couldn’t get better because the mother was dead. I was determined there had to be more to it! I couldn’t just stop and cut my losses, I had to read on because I got it for us to bond over. There had to be something redeemable about it. Let me tell you…that’s faith over logic! It was one of those times when I think my family would’ve preferred I used my logic and cut our losses, but I was digging my heals in.
As I continued to read, I kept thinking about how if this was supposed to be fun, I’d hate to see what miserable looked like. Anyhow, we made it to the end. It was bizarre and had us scratching our heads, but that’s not the point. The mother didn’t actually die. Ok, it still seems as odd now as it did after reading it, but we all laughed about how I kept on reading it and kind of glad we didn’t stop. My point is that if we had quit in the middle of the story, we’d have never known there was a happy ending. The death would’ve been all we knew.
I have to tell you one more thing. On this trip we were walking through an area that used to be like a forest, but bugs had completely ruined the trees. What used to be a lush canopy is now what looks like dead sticks coming out of the ground. Logic told us those woods were ruined, but faith tells us there’ll be rebirth. You see…the story isn’t over. Just like our story in the vehicle, it wasn’t over. Faith over logic.
So many times I’ll catch myself saying, “No, that won’t work. No, that can’t be done.” If my story ended with that email from my hubby, what blessings would we have missed out on? Trust me when I say there were many before, during, and after that trip. Faith over logic.
Does something seem dead to you right now? Let me remind you that you’re in the middle of the story. Don’t get stuck in the dead trees and quit. That’s just depressing that you’d never know how the next chapter might turn out. Move forward and see the ending that God has planned for you. There’s still more to the story. After that story we read in the vehicle, most of the others in the book had us cracking up. It can get better.
What area in your life is God showing you an open door that doesn’t make sense to your thinking? What’s God telling you not to shut the book on because the story isn’t over? I challenge you to have faith over logic in that area today.
