November 01, 2017
The first initial years of "the storm" were overwhelming and time consuming, but once all the legal filings were submitted to the courts, things became quiet. The wait for the judge to issue his rulings began. Months passed. And then years passed. We became accustomed to the lull in the nastiness. And then a few weeks ago, the judge sent out a notice to both parties soliciting available dates for a trial to be scheduled for the Spring or Summer of 2018.
What?? A trial?!? Is there going to be a trial?!? For YEARS, I have been absolutely sure that this lawsuit would never go to trial. SURE! There are many, many reasons why I have felt so strongly about there not being a trial. You can read about some of them here and here. To get a letter from the judge requesting available dates for a trial was a complete surprise and rather disconcerting. It temporarily threw me off balance. I had a lot of questions and no answers. Feeling discouraged, on October 20th, I sat down and wrote my feelings out in a prayer to the LORD.
LORD,
What is it YOU want? What is YOUR will for our lives? Is it YOUR will for this ugly battle perpetrated upon us to go to trial? Is that YOUR will? Is it YOUR will for my journals and the story of Jane to be made public? Is that the way you want YOUR story to be told?
I have so many questions. So many. I'm not doubting you, LORD. I am doubting me. I have been sure for years that this battle was not going to trial. I still believe that. But am I crazy? Was it just wishful thinking? Is it something I have conjured up in my own mind? I really don't believe so. I really don't. But LORD, I want to be sure. I want to be sure that I am surrendered to YOUR will and following YOUR path.
LORD, I have absolutely NO doubt that you are going to protect us from my sister and brother-in-law's vicious and false accusations. NO doubt whatsoever. I guess what confuses me is the path. Do you want this battle to go to trial? Do you want the blogs to be made public? How does that work? Things have changed. The wait for the resolution of the lawsuit has been open ended with nothing in sight, so waiting wasn't that hard because there was an open ended time frame (in my mind) for you to complete your will. But now things have changed. Lawyers from both sides have agreed to set June of 2018 aside for a trial. There is now a point in time set aside for a decision and it is nine months away. Am I starting to doubt? I'm not losing faith in the end result, but I am really confused about the process. Did I misunderstand? Am I wrong? Last night I was reminded of what our Pastor always says. "Don't doubt in the dark what God has shown you in the light."
The blogs are for the most part done and ready. As far as I know I have completed the journey I felt YOU directed me to take. Is YOUR story really going to just sit idle for over nine months? Is there something else I am supposed to do? Am I losing my faith?
In the end it doesn't matter. You are God and I am not. So what is the problem?
I am ashamed. Why am I struggling? Nothing has changed. Am I worried about being wrong in what I have so passionately written about? Is it my pride that is suffering? Am I fearful of looking like a fool and trying to explain why everything I said I felt God was showing me was wrong and (evidently) a figment of my imagination?
LORD, I confess to you my fears. I confess to you my doubt. I confess to you my need to know what is going on and how you plan on doing things. I am weary. I surrender all to you. I surrender it all to you. My hands are open. You are God. I will continue to trust you. I do trust you. If I'm made to look like a fool—then so be it. The only thing that matters is YOU. I bow my need to know how you are going to protect us to your authority and sovereignty. I'm sorry, LORD. A planned date doesn't mean anything. I will still follow your footpath no matter where it leads. Help me to only look ahead at each next step and not start looking into the future. One step at a time, LORD. One step at a time. May YOUR will be done in whatever way YOU choose.Writing my thoughts down always has a therapeutic effect for me. It calms my mind and soothes my soul. It brings me back to Truth and to what I KNOW.
- I KNOW God has a plan for our lives.
- I KNOW God has promised us His protection.
- I KNOW I am to tell HIS story.
- I KNOW this lawsuit will not accidentally go to trial.
- I KNOW that while God may allow the "world's" court system to set us free, it cannot be His revealed moral will because the filing of this lawsuit violates His written words.
- I KNOW God has given my sister and brother-in-law ten plus years of Grace.
- I KNOW there will come a day when accountability for our life choices WILL happen.
- I KNOW that HE is in control—and that is enough.
We will STAND on the promises of God. We will continue to believe and hold on to HIS Truth.
The timing of his departure seems rather remarkable. He literally left the firm just days or weeks before the judge sent the notice out asking for available dates from each side for a trial. He took a position as an in-house lawyer for a large company so he will NOT be able to assist my sister and brother-in-law again on their case. This is a huge blessing! We never need to see him again and we are very grateful. The scheduled dates for the trial are still up in the air. Some time in June 2018 is what the attorneys for both sides agreed upon but my sister and brother-in-law would not agree to those dates, so we are waiting to hear what the judge decides to do.
Shortly after the news about these new developments broke, the phrase "Brick by Brick" came to my mind early one morning and it got me to thinking.
In the beginning of this conflict, my sister and brother-in-law put up a brick wall of their own doing. Every effort we made to bring our conflict to a peaceful end (by using biblical principles) was blocked by a brick wall of resistance. They thought they were in complete control of their destiny and ours. While my sister and brother-in-law were building a brick wall of resistance, God was building a brick wall for our protection. "Brick by Brick" obstacles to block their plans and intents have been put in their way from the very beginning and the obstacles continue to build as they try to take us down financially by using the "world's" court system. Losing their lead attorney, ten years into the legal process and immediately before the judge requested spring and/or summer trial dates from both sides, is certainly another brick placed in their way. It will now cost them a considerable amount of more money to continue to pursue us. It will take a new lawyer many billable hours to be brought up to speed on the sheer amount of volume and details of the case.
Brick by brick.
Even the scheduling of a date appears to be a brick in their path. In their letter to the judge they stated the only times they would be available for a trial would be in very early spring because a trial later than that would cause their seasonable businesses hardship. I'm not sure if the judge will grant their request or not. Our lawyer is scheduled to be out of town and then has two other trials scheduled and the judge is typically in Florida in the time frame my sister and brother-in-law proposed as the only time they would be available. To read their claims of hardship and their basic refusal to consider other times was rather astonishing. They are pursuing us, we are not pursuing them! You would have thought their response would have been something along the lines of, "you name the date and time and we will be there." Instead, they had the audacity to tell a judge that his time frame for dates was not acceptable to them. Incredible. Their own words have caused more bricks to be added to the wall being built for our protection.
Brick by brick.
LORD, our prayer for my sister and brother-in-law remains the same. May they understand that without you they are nothing, and may they desire nothing but you. LORD, thank you for patiently giving them time to change their hearts and lives. Thank you, for granting them ten more years of Grace. LORD, we have always said they cannot pursue you and pursue us at the same time. So, Lord, I come boldly before you and ask in the Almighty name of Jesus for you to build the brick wall of protection around us so high they can't climb over it and so wide they can't go around it. LORD, I pray you would knock down their brick wall of resistance. LORD, I pray you would block the path of disobedience they are on to the point where the brick wall of protection you have built around us is insurmountable and they cannot successfully go forward in their desire to pursue us. LORD, we pray the words of Psalm 140:8 - "Do not grant the wicked their desires, O LORD; do not let their plans succeed or they will become proud." LORD, their planned intentions were clearly demonstrated when they chose to go against your written words and instead filed this lawsuit in an attempt to use the "world's" court system as the means to further their false accusations and their evil intentions. LORD, I pray that brick by brick you would block their ability to pursue this case to trial. LORD, may YOU release us through YOUR power and YOUR might. May all know that is was the LORD God Almighty who stopped the avenger and saved us from the lion's mouth. We pray this in Jesus' holy name. Amen.
Brick by brick.
Addendum: 2/19/19 ~ A light bulb of further understanding went on as I was reading this today. Jesus is three types of stone:
- Cornerstone—someone to build your life's foundation upon
- Stumbling stone—someone who puts or allows obstacles in your path for the purpose of getting your attention and letting you know you need to change your heart and life
- Crushing stone—someone who will eventually hold those who refuse to follow Him accountable for their life choices.
Matthew 21:42–44 - "Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes'? (Jesus quoting Psalm 118:22,23) 'Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.' "
Many of the decisions my sister and brother-in-law made throughout "the storm" just didn't make sense. My husband and I (and others) would often just look at each other and shake our heads. How many times did we (and others) say, "Why on earth did they do that?? How does that make any sense?!"
I thought my sister and brother-in-law were (all on their own) building strong walls of resistance and they thought they were in complete control of their destiny and ours, but now I am starting to see things a little differently. I am beginning to understand God's hand has been in even the smallest of details. I now believe God-planned and God-allowed stumbling stones were put in their path; obstacles which were meant to get their attention and change their course of actions.
So many situations are running through my mind. So many things that just didn't seem to make good business or logical sense. The disturbing thing is this: my sister and brother-in-law think they are building a wall of resistance against us when in reality, their wall of resistance is a fight against the authority of God. Because my sister and brother-in-law refused to change their hearts and lives, God allowed them to continue to build a wall that ultimately prevented them from owning our joint project which in turn prevented them from realizing any eventual profits from their deceitful practices. They also didn't make any money from the large sum of money they removed from the project; they lost the entire amount they removed and much more.
My sister and brother-in-law's covert strategy to take over the project—failed. Their scheme to keep all profits for themselves—failed. Their plan to make a large profit off of the money they removed from the project—failed. All their best laid plans and strategies—failed. Not only did all their strategies for ill-gotten gain fail, but now their insistence on moving forward with a lawsuit has cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees. We absolutely believe their attempt to have the courts enforce the "agreement" they deceitfully obtained as a way to financially ruin us for their own gain will fail as well.
We always wondered, but now we see more clearly. Their decisions weren't just bad business practices or illogical thinking—it was God's hand at work. Stumbling stones were put in place and brick by brick a wall was built to thwart their plans. God has given my sister and brother-in-law opportunity after opportunity to change their hearts and minds, to surrender, to turn from their self-centered ways, and to build their lives upon the Cornerstone. For that I am very thankful. However, there comes a time when "time" runs out and accountability happens.
The stumbling stone becomes a crushing stone.
None of us like to think about judgment. We would all much prefer to talk about the wonderful Grace of God and sit around a campfire singing, Kum Ba Ya. But TRUTH is the truth. Some day we will all stand before our Maker. At that time He will either be the Cornerstone on which we have built our lives—OR—He will be revealed as the stumbling and crushing stone. He is either Lord of our lives—or He isn't.
Oh LORD, we are still learning so much. While we have understood much of what YOU have done, we at the same time have understood very little. I am just amazed at even the glimpse we have been given. LORD, we trust you and ask that you continue to put obstacles in their path that will prevent their plans from succeeding. Thank you, for building walls of protection around us. LORD, there are not enough words to adequately thank you for all you have done these past twelve years. Thank you, Father.
Brick by brick. Stumbling stone by stumbling stone. Obstacles ignored. Walls of resistance built.
Next Entry: By HIS Great Power
The stumbling stone becomes a crushing stone.
None of us like to think about judgment. We would all much prefer to talk about the wonderful Grace of God and sit around a campfire singing, Kum Ba Ya. But TRUTH is the truth. Some day we will all stand before our Maker. At that time He will either be the Cornerstone on which we have built our lives—OR—He will be revealed as the stumbling and crushing stone. He is either Lord of our lives—or He isn't.
Oh LORD, we are still learning so much. While we have understood much of what YOU have done, we at the same time have understood very little. I am just amazed at even the glimpse we have been given. LORD, we trust you and ask that you continue to put obstacles in their path that will prevent their plans from succeeding. Thank you, for building walls of protection around us. LORD, there are not enough words to adequately thank you for all you have done these past twelve years. Thank you, Father.
Brick by brick. Stumbling stone by stumbling stone. Obstacles ignored. Walls of resistance built.
Next Entry: By HIS Great Power
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