Page 72 of Share with Me

“Therefore, trusting God means trusting His take on things.”

“You said that.”

“Maybe you need to wait it out.”

“Meaning what?”

Brinley stepped closer to Ivan. Rubbed his flannel sleeve. His arm was rigid underneath. She kept stroking his arm until he eased up.

“You know Dad and I do a lot of renos—renovations—up and down Coastal Georgia,” she said.

“I have no idea what you do, Brinley, other than sales. What do you do exactly?”

“Well, our family has two companies. Brooks Investments is based in Atlanta and is international. I’m quitting my job in Dad’s marketing department there, actually. Don’t tell Dad yet. When he comes home from Paris next week, I’ll talk to him about it.” Brinley sighed. “But when I’m in town here, I love doing stuff with Dad in his other company. Brooks Renovations. Have you heard of it?”

“No.”

“Doesn’t matter. Dad flips houses as a hobby, you know.”

“Flips? Like buying and selling?”

“Yes. We go to these houses. Maybe they have good bones, but the houses could be wrecks otherwise.”

“Like this one.”

“Worse.”

“Is that possible?”

“Better believe it. Sometimes we have to gut the whole structure and rebuild from the foundation up. All that takes time. Sometimes I disagree with Dad about how we should fix the house. But in the end, I trust his judgment. I trust his take on things. So I wait and see what he does. And usually he’s right. It almost always turns out better than I thought.”

“Your point is?”

“Don’t you get it? My dad is not perfect and I trust him and he comes through. Imagine if you trust your perfect God and He comes through. If He’s God, He’s perfect, and He’s always right. Imagine the results.”

“Yes.”

“So trust your God. Wait it out. It will turn out better than you thought.”

Silence.

“Say something, Ivan.”

“I’m speechless.”

“Why? Did I say something wrong about your God?”

“No.”

“Then what? Don’t look at me like that.”

“You said that if God is God, then He is perfect and He is always right.” Ivan was inches away from Brinley’s face. “If He is perfect and right, I can trust Him for the situations in my life.”

“Makes sense to me.”

“If He’s perfect and right, why are you not trusting Him for the salvation of your soul?”

Now it was Brinley’s turn to be silent.

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