Great is His Faithfulness

 It was a tough week. Turner had a minor accident at college hitting another vehicle in the parking lot. Tanner's car broke down and his puppy chewed his phone destroying it. The tires on my Yukon are beginning to split and need replaced. We did what we always do. We prayed and asked God to help. 

We had a deadline for God to come do something mighty for us, or we were going to have to dip into what little retirement money we have to meet the needs. Saturday came and went with no answer. On Sunday night I was handed an envelope after the evening service. It contained a $20 bill for pastor appreciation month from a visitor. Earlier in the week I received a $100 gift from that man's sister who is a member of Spring Creek. That $120 gift was not enough to meet the thousands of dollars of need. Don't despise small beginnings. 

Our best guess is we needed about $3,500 for all of it. At the end of Sunday night, I prepared myself to dip into our retirement money the next day to meet the need. I am not sure when I received the text that changed everything this morning. It was early after I prayed. The text informed me of a $3,600 direct answer to prayer. Let me tell you rest of the story. 

We were told a long time ago that we could expect this provision on a certain date. The date came and went. In fact, six months passed, and we did not receive it. We accepted this fact and prayed. We determined that we would not remind the gift sender about the financial promise. We trusted God who knows our needs. We believed God would do it another way.

That is when God stepped in at 11:59. Turns out the gift giver suddenly remembered about the promised gift on Sunday night. Something or SOMEONE jarred the memory. Brenda and I believe God penetrated that person's thoughts causing the reminder. The text assured me that the check would be in hand today. Some might consider that a miracle, but Brenda and I certainly do. 

I know some will say we were just being stubbornly proud not to remind the gift giver about the check. Brenda and I committed to God a long time ago that we would communicate our needs to Him trusting God to provide. He has done that for over three decades. He did it at 11:59 again. If that person had waited to text me until after lunch, I would have already taken that money from our retirement account. God knew. He waited just to show me again how faithful He is and how wavering my faith can be. 

God did it again. He intervened in our circumstances to meet a need we could not foresee and did not have money in hand to meet for ourselves. He knew the deadline and waited to the last minute just for dramatic effect. He could have let us rob our retirement. I was prepared to do it though I felt very uneasy about it. I knew I could take matters into my own hands. That did not seem like faith. Why? Because I did not trust God to come through. I nearly took matters into my own hands because I doubted God would be faithful like He has been in the past. Shame on me. A foolish mindset on my part. 

One more time God has given me this platform to testify about another answer to prayer. I don't know if they make any difference. My hope is that it encourages some soul in a difficult spot just like Brenda and I were in. We have testimonies galore of God doing similar things over the past 30 years. I take no credit. It is God choosing to work in powerful ways in our lives. I know what He keeps doing for my family He can also do for any reading this around the world. I bow my knee and say, "Great is His faithfulness."