What Are You Doing God? Did I Hear You Right?

After a long series of faith building events, we sold everything except my husband’s tools and a few personal effects. We took what would fit in our work truck and car, and said good-bye to the town and country I had called home for nearly all my life. My faith was on a high! I have journals filled with stories of miracles and direct answers to prayer from the two years leading up to this point. I was excited. In true Shawna fashion I shared these stories with anyone who would listen. Then it happened.

We had been in the US for under four months when we got word that we were being accused of owing a HUGE sum of money in Canada. It was upsetting, even though we knew we were innocent. Our faith was strong, God would protect us! I gathered the necessary paperwork and submitted our case. Several weeks later we received a letter saying our request had been denied and it would be a criminal offense if we didn’t pay it.

Here we were in a new country. We were in the beginning stages of building both a new house and cabinet shop. We would have no work until both projects were completed. Even then it would take time for jobs to come in as we weren’t known in the area. We needed a miracle! I had faith. I knew God would fight for us, and told our non-believing financial advisor that every time I spoke with him.

I looked for the miracle but it didn’t come. For two years we fought to prove our innocence only to be denied. Finally we were advised to pay it and move on. We had no way to do that, nor did we want to. We were discouraged and confused. Where did God go? Did He forget to be kind? We prayed our hearts out. We referenced our Bibles and took all the Biblical steps in making a decision. We sought out Godly people for advice. The conclusion was that our only choice was to hire a lawyer. A law firm advised that our case was good and it would be easily settled out of court. After much prayer we started the process. By then we were living in our new house, work was coming in but by no means did we have the money to fight a long battle. Again we were confident that God would fight for us and claimed those promises.

Month after month passed. The law firm we hired switched lawyers on us three times! It seemed like more often than not they were asking for large sums of money to continue. Not only were we being financially drained, but discouragement was threatening. “Why God? Where are you?” This went on for an additional two years. Finally it was determined that if we were going to win this we would have to prove it in court. It was then that our lawyer informed us that it would cost more than we owed to prove our innocence. We were forced to accept an unfair settlement. The news hit us hard! Reality set in. Not only had we been wrongfully accused in the first place, but in addition we had been robbed by the law firm.

My faith was shaken. We had openly asked our church family to pray and they were eager to hear the answer. I was embarrassed, I tried to avoid being asked. I didn’t want to tell them for fear it would make God look bad. For the next several months we scraped together every last penny possible, completely depleting our business cash flow and also used the money set aside for a large annual bill. Finally after four years of fighting, the heavy burden was lifted. We were broke but our bill was paid.

We had no idea how we would meet our upcoming bills but again we trusted that God would provide. He didn’t let us down. Every bill was met as it came due. Then seemingly out of nowhere a series of events occurred where we were unexpectedly awarded a large sum of money. As only God can, it matched nearly to the dollar the settlement amount we had been forced to pay!

No, God hadn’t forgotten us and no, He wasn’t unkind. He was yet again showing us that even if everything around us seems to be falling apart He has only our eternal and best interest in mind. He is forever faithful and can be trusted!

“Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.” Habakkuk 3:17-19 NLT