Over the past few weeks, I have been focusing my bible study teaching on “Faith”. I don’t know if you know this or not, but anytime you begin studying, learning or teaching on a particular subject you are bound to be tested on what you are teaching or learning. And the church said - AMEN!
I was reminded of two things during this time of study. The first was that portion of the prayer model that Jesus taught His disciples (Mt. 6:11) that simply says: “Give us this day our daily bread” . Second, He reminded me of the story of the Israelites in the wilderness when they did not have anything to eat. You can read the account in Ex. 16:15-20. When they did not trust God to supply the next day, they tried to save what they had to be sure they had for the next day. What did God do? Because of their disobedience, God caused the excess manna to breed worms and became useless to eat.
Now, how did God make me chuckle - you ask? Well, I had been believing God to supply my every need, one day at a time - so I thought. Yet, every time I thought about the bills and the lack of finance, it would always take my thoughts and concerns into the next day or next week. Fortunately, I would quicken myself to start thanking God for all of my needs being met. So on Wednesday, I went to the mailbox after not going there for a couple days and to my surprise I had received a check. Of course, I was elated and began to thank God for His blessings. The next day (Thursday) I went to the mailbox. Now before I continue I need to say that I had already calculated in my mind all of the ways that I could possibly receive any money from anywhere. And I concluded there were no other means for surprise money to come.
Continuing with the story...I get to the mailbox on Thursday and I have all sorts of mail. My eyes fall on a small envelope with the perforations on all sides and it is from one of my previous banks. You who are reading this may not be able to relate to this, but some of you may. When I saw the mail from the bank, immediately I began trying to recall the events of this account closing. I said “I thought I closed that account with money in it”. Then I said, “I should not owe them any money”, “Wonder why are they sending something to me”. Listen, when I usually get one of those perforated envelopes from the bank, it is usually telling me about an overdraft. I know you guys don’t get those, but I’ve received several in my time - lol!!
I decide to follow the instructions of the envelope of tear each section off. Low and behold, when I opened each side I discovered a check . I was so surprised - I started checking the front of the envelope to see if it was addressed correctly, if it was truly made payable to me, and if it was a real negotiable check. The answer to all my questions was - YES!!
My response to God was (as I laughed) - “Ok, God are you going to send me small checks every day or one at a time just to show me that you can do things in ways I can’t imagine, even if it is in small doses? He responded back to with “I told you to trust me one day at a time. Stop worrying about what is due next week. I know all things. Stop being afraid to answer the calls from the creditors. You don’t know how I can move on the hearts of others, but you have to trust me”. He reminded again of the story of the Israelites in the wilderness. The purpose for Him telling them not to save anything for the next day was to prove to them that the God they served was able to provide fresh manna the next day and any day. Even when they could not see what they would have to eat, He would provide. Then He said “I will take care of you day by day”. I could do nothing but “chuckle” and say THANK YOU FOR BEING GOD!!!
Now my friends, I know most of you already know that God is able but isn’t it interesting that we HAVE to be reminded of this simple fact -EVERY DAY that we live and breathe. It is the very nature of mankind to very easily believe what we see with the natural eye and feel with our fless. Nonetheless, we who are children of the Most High must remember that we are pilgrims in a foreign land and we walk by FAITH, not by sight!!!(2 Cor.5:7)
There are more events that took place on Friday that shows how God moves on your behalf when you just rest in Him and trust Him. I think I’ll save those events for another blog. If you have some testimonies of how God is sustaining you in these economically hard times, post it on the blog so others can catch a hold of faith and see the same results in their lives.
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