God Provides

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:19 

One of the hardest things we have to learn as followers of Jesus is giving up control and letting go, or in a word, "trust". I don't know about you, but this can be a daily thing for me. I am good one day or for a while and then something happens, like say, "a pandemic" or something a little smaller, like say, "a broken microwave" and I start to wonder, "ok, how am I going to fix this?" 

And you want to know what that does? It brings worry and preoccupation, and almost fixation until whatever it is, is fixed. 

I like to have things in order, in place, operational, smooth, trouble free and working properly. I don't like debt or unresolved issues, or things left hanging. I like a challenge, but in the sense that I like to meet it, close the book and move on to the next one. 

Sometimes, there are things that are beyond what we can do on our own. Perhaps, there are a lot more things that are beyond our control than there are actually things we can do. 

That's when our trust in God is tested and that's when we can see God at work. When we see God at work our trust in Him grows as does our love for Him. We just have to get there, and that's not easy. 

So, in the past year, we have had some nice tests of our faith, and Covid was just one of them. 

On our anniversary trip last year to the beach, our car window broke, Stacey had a kidney stone, we had a nice visit to the ER and a nice bill followed. (Stacey was fine after they gave her some nice medicine and as far as she knows she never passed it). Micah and I both hurt our backs and spent time chasing down recovery which included some nice Dr's and PT visits with some nice bills thrown in. (We are both good now.) We had a car break down, a refrigerator die with no hope for recovery, (First World problem, I know), the need for a new computer, (2 actually but one was my work computer), our septic tank backed up (one of the most unpleasant things we have ever experienced - get yours pumped out BEFORE that happens to you), two people in college, (one on scholarship but it sounds worse if I say "2 instead of 1"), and a very nice tax bill for the first time in years. 

Please don't take this as complaining or feeling sorry for ourselves. What we have gone through is trivial compared to what others have experienced. This is just a set up for what's next. 

The key through all of is that God has provided at every step. At every step, I wanted to worry and to control, and I would for a while, but I also learned in a deeper way to turn to Him in prayer and wait for Him to work. 

He did not disappoint. He never does. That is what makes Him such a good Father. He always provides when we trust Him. 

The amazing thing is that He provided in different ways for each thing. There were a couple of times, it was just in having the right people at the right time step in to give advice, to provide a helping hand, a listening ear, support, and help. (Simple things like having the world's greatest mother-in-law living downstairs and letting us store things in her refrigerator and making us meals so we didn't have to eat out during the week between our refrigerator dying and the new one arriving.)

There was a friend who stepped up with free PT and through which I was able to find a full recovery in weeks after months of not finding relief through other Dr's and PT. (Weird thing, my back went out 2 days after getting my second covid shot. Don't know if they were related or not - all I know is that I went down and was unable to get up, walking became a game of getting up and doing everything in one trip before lying down again and figuring out how to go up and down steps was a puzzle I had to figure out. Side note - on Monday, our 100 Mile Challenge Team walked 10 miles at Haw River State Park without a hitch - I think of that as a miracle after what I went through.)

Our son, Micah, has planned for years to go to Forsyth Tech for two years to save money and then go to App State to become a teacher. Forsyth Tech just announced that everything is free for all 2021 graduates - tuition, books, fees etc. Free, free free. So, he will save a bit more than he expected. Perfect timing for him; God's perfect timing!

So far, this has been far too much about us, because it really was all about God. On the day He provided a big gift through someone, it brought tears to my eyes. It was His way of saying, "I am still here. I have not forgotten you. I am still faithful. You can trust Me." I had a short worship service in our driveway when I opened the letter that contained an unexpected gift - God's perfect timing!

God likes to surprise us, I think. Obstacles rise up, things don't go as planned (at least our plans), bills come, things look bleak, a bad diagnosis, a relationship falls apart, but then as we turn to Him and turn things over to Him, He steps in and steps up and makes it all happen. God's perfect timing!

It's then that we realize His goodness and the riches of His grace and mercy. We realize that His timing is perfect and that by going through the hard times we appreciate much more the good things that He does. 

You cannot have a "testimony" without a "test" I have heard, and I believe that to be true. 

The tests are there to reveal and strengthen our trust in Him. They are opportunities to see Him at work. If we didn't experience the hard times, we wouldn't recognize His goodness, it would blend in with all the other good things in life. 

The apostle Paul wrote, "And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:19), and I have found that to be true on an experiential way. He meets all our needs - physical, spiritual, financial, relational, emotional. He has done that for me. It is part of my testimony. I have been tested, and He has passed every test. 

I don't know what you are going through, but God does. He knows your needs before you do. You may be facing some pretty big stuff right now. It may look huge. It may test your faith. It may test you. But it won't test God. He has riches you and I can only dream of. 

He will come through. He will provide. That's Who He is and that is what He does. 

You can trust Him. (And I pray that this coming year for you will be blessed with all of His goodness.)