Jesus Hold'em

In 2004 we were one of the lucky ones that got hit with 3 hurricanes in a row. We were without power for a few days and had a “grace period” between showers if you know what I mean. It was hot and sticky and our house was also one of the new homes that had poor construction and the rain just came right through the walls so we had to use all our towels to soak up the water. The house smelled musty and it was really dark at night. In spite of all of this my youngest daughter will tell you it was one of the happiest times in her life. We were introduced to Texas Hold’em during this time by a neighbor so when we weren’t playing board games we were playing this card game. I’m not much of a game person but I must say I had fun with it. Jessica loved that her family was together playing games and having fun. My youngest son totally got into this game and after we were back to normal life, as normal as ours is, he was still playing Texas Hold’em when ever he got the chance. Jessica was 10 at the time and call it beginners luck but she was really good. She had no fear of calling “all in” which meant she was betting all she had that she would win the hand. This of course drove my son, her big brother, crazy because he wanted the betting to go on for more than one round.
Jessica didn’t remember all the bad stuff. She just remembers getting to play Texas Hold’em with her family.
I got to thinking about our lives and how it would be if we stopped holding out for a better hand and just went all in with Jesus. I mean just totally relied on Him for everything and lived a life where He had to show up because we had no plan B. It sounds risky but the truth is it’s the safest hand.
When I was out of work and we had zero income I had to trust the Lord for everything because I had nothing to bring to the table. The thing about God is He will provide for you it just may not be the way you thought it would be or even want it to be. For instance, for months I got left over food from a restaurant and divided it up between my family and a couple of others and even brought some to the Women’s Shelter where I volunteered. God is a God of more than enough. When my house foreclosed and I finally had to move out I asked the Lord where I was going to go and He said the next house will be provided for you and you won’t need anything.
It’s funny the first time the Lord asked me what I had to have I had a list of things I wanted to bring when I moved. Over time He asked me again and my list was a lot smaller. Later He asked again and I said “I don’t have to have anything but I would like my tiffany lamp and the cedar hope chest that belonged to my mother and the lamp comes apart and can fit in the hope chest. Was I bargaining with God?
Right before I moved out of the house I told the Lord I didn’t have to have anything as long as I was where He wanted me.
I remembered His word that the next house would be provided for me and I trusted Him on it. I thought He was going to give me another house fully furnished. The Realtor in me had all sorts of ideas of the location, amount of bedrooms, bathrooms, you know the drill. Well we ended up moving into a friend’s house. A beautiful house I might add and we didn’t need anything. We had our own bedrooms and bathroom. God did what He said, everything we needed was provided. Did I see that coming? No, did God do it the way I thought He would? NO, but he did exactly what He said He would do.
So now time has passed and I have an apartment that I really love. God is so good because I love trees and there are lots of trees here. We got a lake view without asking for it or paying the higher price. I have a job and things are going well. So why was I not feeling it? Why did I have this restless feeling inside?
I realized I wasn’t waking up every morning wondering what the day was going to bring. Where was I going to be that day, who was I going to minister to and most of all how was God going to provide?
I wasn’t remembering the days of fear when I wasn’t resting in God’s promises or the anxiety of what was going to happen next I just remembered being taken care of miraculously by my sweet Jesus.
I have a job now with a paycheck that covers my expenses. Don’t get me wrong I’m totally grateful for that and I know a lot of people are still looking for work but I don’t “feel” the daily dependency on God and I missed it.
I don’t want to go back to status quo or become complacent. I don’t want to live safe, I want to go all in so I prayed about it and decided to make a change. I told my boss I can only work for him 4 days a week. I want to give God another day to do what He wants with it. I wasn’t sure how my boss would react and I had to prepare myself for him to tell me it was full time or nothing but I was willing to take that chance, I was going all in.
The conversation went well and although I know he doesn’t totally understand he has agreed. I can’t wait to see what God will do next.
I want to live a life where I have an unexpected hand everyday, where I have to take a gamble between worldly things and spirit things.

I want to take those words from Isaiah 6:8 seriously.
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me”
I don’t know where you are in your relationship with the Lord. Maybe you’re not ready to say I’m all in, we are all at different places in our walk. I just want you to remember that the best hand is God’s hands. That’s why I’m playing Jesus Hold’em.!