Works of God - Jehovah Jireh

Long, long, long ago, I was a student at Northland Baptist Bible College ('95 - '99). While there, in chapels, we had something called "Works of God Monday" and we would spend time listening to testimonies of how God was working. It was a fresh and real reminder that our God is alive and that He is at work. It gave us the opportunity to look at life's events through the spectrum of God's hand in our lives.

Often, especially near the times of the semester when our bills were due, we would hear testimonies of God's provision. Some of my very dear friends were among those who were almost to the point of having to go home and miss out on the rest semester (because Northland did not allow students to go in debt to pay their school bills) when at what seemed like the last moment, God would provide the money for them to stay. Often this money came in the most unique ways or in avenues that could only be attributed to God showing Himself faithful.

My mom often reminds me of the fact that I once told her that I was a little jealous of those who could give that testimony. I was never one who was at risk of not paying my bill - not because we were wealthy, but because I was able to work at college, work in the summer and receive the ministry scholarship. All those things combined meant that there was money to pay the bill. I told her that I wanted my faith to be stretched the way those students were stretched. I wanted that constant reminder of how faithful my God is.

Well, fast forward to the present. I can't even begin to tell you how many ways God has provided for us in the past year and a half. It was in September of 2010 that Mike finished his time with the company he had invested 5 years in. We were at that point in life and in his pay where we really didn't have to count pennies and we didn't have to wonder where the money would come from for the next bill. Mike started his own company and was there for a year until this past fall when he finished his non compete and could go back into working in Tampa. Anyone who has started a new company can attest to the fact that there are sometimes hurdles and it takes time to grow. While his company has been growing, we have watched in amazement as God has provided. We have seen it through extra projects that have come in, through an IRS change in how they handled the adoption credit, through gifts from others and through savings we didn't expect, and even through those obvious ways, we have seen God make the ends meet when there is no reason they should.

Back in the beginning of February, I was looking at the financials and trying to figure out who wasn't going to get paid when we ran out of money and how to decide who got how much and why. I was challenged with the thought of the children of Israel and the manna God provided. Each morning, there was fresh manna for them. God provided enough for the day. He didn't provide for the next year, month, week or even day. He gave them what they needed on that day. At that point, Mike and I talked and we decided to just deal with the bill that was due each day. Instead of planning ahead that we weren't going to pay a bill due today because of the one we needed to pay in two weeks, we focused on that day. Here we are near the end of May and God has provided for each bill. Just as before, sometimes the money came from an extra project that Mike spent all weekend working on. Sometimes the money came from selling something on Amazon or Ebay. Sometimes the money came from a gift from a friend. But in the end, we know that ALWAYS the money came from God. Sometimes it is humbling and overwhelming to see God provide through the gifts and sacrifices of others, but while we are praying for His provision, who are we to tell Him how to provide?

As you all know, we have been blessed by three precious little ones recently. Though I can, and probably will, write several posts on God's blessings in their very existence, the main point of this post is God's financial provision. So when we found out that we were having triplets, we realized that we were facing another financial hurdle in that neither of our vehicles would fit 3 infant car seats and a toddler car seat. We knew we would need a van to haul our family. We immediately began praying that God would provide us a van. Some might say, well just go out and get one and spread your payment out as far as possible. We just didn't feel like we could do that. We were already praying for God to provide for other bills - how could we go sign up for another one that we didn't know how to pay? As the months went on, people would ask us what we were going to do and we would tell them that we were praying for God to provide. We even got past the point of the babies being born and people kept asking and I started looking at vans on Craigslist to see what price range we were talking. At that point, I was thinking that maybe God was going to provide by giving Mike some big extra projects at work. We talked about trying to make it work without a van for awhile, but I didn't feel comfortable with the idea that once all the babies are home, that would mean that I would be home alone with 4 kids and no way of taking them anywhere safely if there was an emergency. We continued praying.

Then I went to the sports awards banquet at Providence (the school where I coach high school girls volleyball and basketball). I handed out the awards for volleyball and then the captain came and gave me two gift bags and told me to open one right away. As I pulled out the tissue paper, I looked inside and saw a van key with a tag from a dealer. Immediately it hit me that I was seeing Jehovah Jireh answer a prayer request that had been months in praying. Of course, I started crying as I stood there in shock that anyone would do this for us. God had worked through one of the parents and impressed on her the fact that this was a big need for us. She responded to His leading and now I daily get to drive a big reminder of God's faithfulness. Before even one of the babies has been released from the hospital, He has once again provided for us. And in doing so, He has given me the privilege of being "one of those" who could raise my hand in chapel (if I were still young and in college) and tell everyone about Jehovah Jireh, My God Provides. Since I'm not young and still in college, I will instead put this long winded version out in this venue and allow the world to see.

Two quotes that continually have come back to mind in the last months (and I don't know where they originated, but I will tell you who I heard them from)...

1. "We trust in Jehovah Jireh, not jehovah visa." This one was a favorite of Dr. Ollila's and I heard it many, many times during my years at Northland. If we had chosen to just go take out a loan on a van (assuming we would be given one), we would have lost the opportunity to see God at work, which not only had an impact on us, but also showed God's faithfulness to those around us.

2. "God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, He can meet the need by just selling a cow." I have heard several versions of this over the years and most of them came from my Mom. Sometimes we seem to have a finite view of God and don't realize that really His resources are never ending and often He is ready to bless us if we just give Him the opportunity.

Philippians 4:19 "But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."