Spiritual Realities #2 – Faith: The Power to Trust God

All About Power

Not where I lived

Happily, I was the victim of a cruel deception visited upon me by the office manager where I lived. Obviously, the haole manager didn’t like this Hawaiian girl. After I had returned from visiting with my elder daughter on the Big Island, he began to send me brochures that spoke about “illegally” being a renter. The office said I had to reapply in order to live there again with my younger daughter. More brochures arrived all indicating “eviction” not only for me, but for my younger daughter as well if she continued to allow me to live there.

I sought help from an attorney at Legal Aid. Looking back, he was young, naïve, and also haole. He called the manager on the phone. Whatever was discussed between them resulted in his inability to take the case. I said I would write a letter asking him to cancel my case. Afterwards, I packed and left my daughter’s apartment. I did not want to endanger her living arrangements.

I was homeless now. I stood under evening shadows and silently waved “goodbye” to my ‘ohana, who waved back at me from the kitchen window of their apartment.

As if on a gentle breeze, a bible verse “walked” across my mind. “All things work for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28). Was God asking me to trust him no matter how my homeless situation unfolded? I slept in my car that first night, on the side of a highway. Later, my own excellent sister provided a sofa and temporary safe place to lay my head.

As many nights accumulated into long uncertain months, the power to trust God stayed with me.

Next week: #2a - The Powers That Be: Homeless and Hurting