Provision

Something that I never thought would happen to us happened today. God provided specifically for our needs.

I have always read in those missionary biography stories about how God provided specifically, almost miraculously, for people in their time of need. Whenever I read stories like that it lifts my spirit, much in the same way Christmas movies, such as Miracle on 34th Street, do. And just like watching a Christmas movie, I can readily dismiss what happens in the movie with the reality of life: "yeah that's nice for stories and stuff, but it won't happen to me." It's not that I don't want it to happen, but I didn't see the need to get my hopes up for things like that. And after all, God has and does provide financially for us through our paychecks, and provides emotionally through our loved ones, and so on. We've never had to go hungry or naked. I think at a heart-level, the question is not whether or not God could do it, but whether or not he would do it. I find that I also feel this way when I pray for healing.

Well, since I am on the subject, here is a well-know story of this sort of specific-kind of provision. It's a story about George Muller, it's taken from this website:

One morning the plates and cups and bowls on the table were empty. There was no food in the larder, and no money to buy food. The children were standing waiting for their morning meal, when Mueller said, "Children, you know we must be in time for school." Lifting his hand he said, "Dear Father, we thank Thee for what Thou art going to give us to eat." There was a knock on the door. The baker stood there, and said, "Mr. Mueller, I couldn't sleep last night. Somehow I felt you didn't have bread for breakfast and the Lord wanted me to send you some. So I got up at 2 a.m. and baked some fresh bread, and have brought it." Mueller thanked the man. No sooner had this transpired when there was a second knock at the door. It was the milkman. He announced that his milk cart had broken down right in front of the Orphanage, and he would like to give the children his cans of fresh milk so he could empty his wagon and repair it. No wonder, years later, when Mueller was to travel the world as an evangelist, he would be heralded as "the man who gets things from God!"

Well, Traci and I are definitely no where near the league of George Muller. But here is what happened to us today. (Now that I've sufficiently over-hyped it, hope it's not too much of a letdown.)

We've incurred some unexpected expenses this last month due to our oven going kaputz. (cost $880 to install a new one in its place) That in addition to a couple of short paychecks we received in the past month have us scraping the bottom of the barrel. So the last few days, I've been thinking about how we will make ends meet this month. Traci and I were thinking maybe we will have to carry some balance on our credit card for the first time, which we really didn't want to do.

Then today, I spoke to my mom and she informed me that some of the people at our church back in Caly gave us a love offering last week and she deposited into our account. I checked the donation and it came out to be $875! (Okay for those skeptics out there, I acknowledge your thought. A part of me joins you in thinking, man, that is $5 short. There is nothing miraculously about that.) Despite the protest of the skeptical part of me, I gave thanks and rejoiced and celebrated God's provision! I called Traci and we celebrate it together. We are so thankful and so humbled by God and his people who gave so generously!

There are a lot of things that God could have done, and this little experience is pretty insignificant, it didn't save any lives and really only affected 2 lives, but it's special to us. Because in it, He showed his love for us in a very personal way. He showed us that He knows our needs and He will take care of us.

I think the best part of all of this is that we weren't expecting it and we weren't praying for it. God simply took the initiative and surprised us with it. It is the best kind of present one can receive at Christmas.













(Btw, no one except Traci and I (and our friend Larry who helped us in getting a new oven) knew that we had a busted oven and how much it cost to replace it.)