Filled by Faith
My first husband was self-employed for many years while our children were growing up. I ran a home daycare to help the family budget, so income had a tendency to fluctuate. Because of the nature of Larry’s work there always seemed to be a slow-down in the industry. One year when we were anticipating one such season he reminded me how God led His people out of bondage and slavery in Egypt. They ended up in the desert and for forty years God met their needs there. Understanding that God had a better life for us, we also knew that provision was needed as we walked through the dry places. We were learning to live in faith and victory over adverse circumstances and part of that was learning to ‘speak to the mountain’ in our life, whatever it happened to be. In Mark 11:23 the Bible states “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘go, throw yourself into the sea’, and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for them.” NIV
Knowing God’s promise and believing it, we stood in faith as my husband pointed at the fridge and kitchen cabinets and boldly declared, “You are full of good, nutritious food. Every need is provided in Jesus Christ and nothing is lacking”! Then he began to thank God for His provision, according to Philippians 4:19, “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.” NIV.
Note the absence of complaining and self-pity, no reminding God of all our needs and problems, but simply thanking Him for doing what He promised in Phil. 4:19.
I wish you could have popped in every Wednesday for the next 4 months! Within a week we had a visit from a friend ( actually, more like an acquaintance ). She said she was connected with an organization that was feeding the homeless. They had a need for someone to take some food off their hands every Wednesday ( their intake day ). Since they were not able to use everything a lot would be going to waste. For some reason she thought of us, and of course we said we could help, knowing that this was God’s answer to our need.
For the next 4 months we drove down every Wednesday late afternoon and made a pick-up that filled our car ( a 3-seater station wagon )! God is good and He is faithful.
It doesn’t end there. We knew some larger single income families, some single parent families and others that came to mind. A few phone calls, a bit of foot traffic and we could finally see the kitchen floor again! Not only were we blessed, but because we took God at His word, our needs were met and at least five other families were blessed each and every week!
But there’s more; another year our freezer had just decided to quit and again Larry pointed at the traitor and spoke in faith. The words were simply, “I declare we have a freezer that works and is full of meat”. Within days his nephew called from another town. He had a little problem; he needed a place to store a freezer for a while and we could use it while it was being stored.
But there’s more! The nephew happened to own a grocery store in his town and he was overloaded with meat that was kept frozen since before expiry date and was wondering if we could make use of it. Again, God’s answer to our need when we spoke in faith.
Now, this is not a directive or a formula, but when you know what God has promised, hang onto the promise in faith and walk in obedience to Him somehow you always ‘just happen to be’ in the right place at the right time. Unexpected bumps can rise up in the road but God takes care of His own on the way to the party!
Knowing God’s promise and believing it, we stood in faith as my husband pointed at the fridge and kitchen cabinets and boldly declared, “You are full of good, nutritious food. Every need is provided in Jesus Christ and nothing is lacking”! Then he began to thank God for His provision, according to Philippians 4:19, “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.” NIV.
Note the absence of complaining and self-pity, no reminding God of all our needs and problems, but simply thanking Him for doing what He promised in Phil. 4:19.
I wish you could have popped in every Wednesday for the next 4 months! Within a week we had a visit from a friend ( actually, more like an acquaintance ). She said she was connected with an organization that was feeding the homeless. They had a need for someone to take some food off their hands every Wednesday ( their intake day ). Since they were not able to use everything a lot would be going to waste. For some reason she thought of us, and of course we said we could help, knowing that this was God’s answer to our need.
For the next 4 months we drove down every Wednesday late afternoon and made a pick-up that filled our car ( a 3-seater station wagon )! God is good and He is faithful.
It doesn’t end there. We knew some larger single income families, some single parent families and others that came to mind. A few phone calls, a bit of foot traffic and we could finally see the kitchen floor again! Not only were we blessed, but because we took God at His word, our needs were met and at least five other families were blessed each and every week!
But there’s more; another year our freezer had just decided to quit and again Larry pointed at the traitor and spoke in faith. The words were simply, “I declare we have a freezer that works and is full of meat”. Within days his nephew called from another town. He had a little problem; he needed a place to store a freezer for a while and we could use it while it was being stored.
But there’s more! The nephew happened to own a grocery store in his town and he was overloaded with meat that was kept frozen since before expiry date and was wondering if we could make use of it. Again, God’s answer to our need when we spoke in faith.
Now, this is not a directive or a formula, but when you know what God has promised, hang onto the promise in faith and walk in obedience to Him somehow you always ‘just happen to be’ in the right place at the right time. Unexpected bumps can rise up in the road but God takes care of His own on the way to the party!
Comments
Post a Comment