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God Will Provide
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God Will Provide
To do this story justice, I have to take a moment to and tell you a little about my personal situation. As I've mentioned in other stories, I recently was let go from the place I had worked for 17 years. I started a business 17 years ago and sold it 2.5 years ago. I've been working for the acquiring company for the last 2.5 years.
They recently had to do some cost adjustments and decided to let me go. I loved the company and the people. Several of my family members still work there. I have deeply grieved this loss in my life. Part of that grieving has been dreams about my job loss. The night before this story, I had one of those dreams. I woke up grieving, homesick, and worried about finances.
Previous to last night, I had faith that I was in the center of God's will. I felt God was leading me to make this journey and have done it as a step of faith. Being a realist, I have also continued my job search. I have been at complete peace and have been experiencing joys in my days. I have been awestruck by the opportunities that God has been sending me.
I woke on the morning of this story with my faith slipping. I apologized to God and asked Him to help me with my lack of faith.
I got my tea and my Bible study materials and went outside to pray by the lake. There I met Carolyn & Jack. They are retired and are from the south. They are one of the senior citizen RV travelers of the world. We both enjoyed meeting fellow southerners. As I started talking to them, I realized God had truly sent me a gift.
Carolyn and Jack started talking to me about God before I could bring up the subject. They are deeply spiritual people who also are deeply in love with each other and their church.
Many people I meet are willing to talk about what church has or hasn't done for them. It is much harder to get people to talk about their intimate relationship with God. It was clear that both of them were in a love relationship with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It was all they could talk about. It was clear that they loved God with all of their heart, soul, and might. Their life is an example of the rewards of people who follow the "Greatest Commandment."
"Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." Deut 6:5-6 NIV
People are always curious about why I can take a trip like this. I let them know my job situation had changed and that I suddenly had the time. I told them that I felt it was a spiritual calling. I told them a little about the people I had met. They were relieved to hear that I had my husband's support for this adventure.
They easily told me about their relationship with God. They told me about them personally and their struggles. They described the church that they love so much. They proudly talked about their 3 successful and spiritually grounded adult children. They also have 7 grandchildren that are adored by them.
They shared their financial struggles with me. They were using their struggles as a testimony to me that God brings good in all situations for those that love God. They are retired and are quite comfortable now but it didn't come without pain.
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28 NIV
At one point in their life, they sold broiler chickens. They had a huge farm and were working 7 days a week. They always went to church but they went exhausted. They would have to get up early in the morning and take care of the chickens before church. Carolyn was sitting in church one day and realized she was too exhausted for it to do any good. She realized this couldn't be God's will for them. She talked to her husband and he agreed.
They prayed deeply about this situation and asked God to take care of it. They asked God for His will.
Their chickens contracted a virus and had to be destroyed. They were financially destitute. They couldn't see God's hand but because they had prayed, they knew His hand was in this. They had huge monthly financial commitments and saw no way to make them.
Carolyn has a high school education and Jack graduated from 8th grade. They had been in business their entire married lives and any job they could get would bring a very low income. It certainly wouldn't meet the large financial obligations of this farm. They took the situation to God and knew nothing was bigger than Him.
They had an $11,000 payment that was due on a Monday. They had no money and saw no way to get the money. Again, they took it to God. On Saturday someone showed up on their doorstep with a cashiers check for $16,000 and offered them this for a small piece of their land. They hated selling land but knew this was God's answer. They accepted it and made the payment. They were able to meet every payment that came due.
Carolyn decided to go to school and get her real estate's license. When she graduated, she had two big sales right away. The second one took 18 months to close but netted her 1.2 million dollars in commissions. She said she would have had to gather a lot of eggs for that much money.
Jack continued with his farming and also started a dump truck business that did very well.
Carolyn said they always knew that God was going to take care of them and the following scripture comforted her during this entire ordeal.
"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" Matthew 7:9-12 NIV
As I talked to them, I thought about the scripture that says faith without works is dead.
"As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead." James 2:26 NIV
They didn't just sit around and pray and believe God would take action. Carolyn and Jack had faith but they also took courageous actions during this time. These actions were painful and required them to have the courage to believe they had heard God.
Carolyn had to go to school to get prepared for the money that God had planned for her. She didn't have confidence that it would work but she did it anyway. She took the necessary steps. God was faithful and honored their obedience. He honored it beyond anything she could have dreamed.
Jack had bladder cancer twice and God has completely healed him both times. Often when cancer comes back a second time, there is no cure. The second time it occurred, he witnessed to a technician who was helping him. She accepted Christ while working on him. Cancer is a small price to pay to help someone find the love of Jesus. He has been cancer free for 5 years.
Carolyn has lupus. She also broke her neck as a child and has severe headaches. She has other medical problems as well. Each time, they took those problems to God and followed his instructions. Carolyn is having no symptoms with her lupus and she is healthy and feels good most of the time.
Jack told a story of when Carolyn was suffering deeply from a headache. Nothing would make it go away. It was so severe that they were both concerned that it was life threatening. Carolyn thought she was dying and had already discussed it with God. Jack was so concerned about her pain that he asked God to heal her no matter what it took.
The prayer frightened him because he knew that taking her to heaven could be a form of healing. He struggled before he prayed the prayer but decided to trust God with his words. When he got home, he called her name nervously. Carolyn had been completely healed from her pain and was still on this earth.
What was interesting to me about this story was Jack's faith that God would answer his prayer. He hesitated to pray it because he knew the answer might be something he didn't want, but he never doubted that God would answer.
I also thought about how much he must love Carolyn to want her to be out of pain more than he wanted her to stay with him. He would rather God take her to heaven than to suffer the way she was suffering.
And finally, I thought about how much he trusted God with his prayers. I've been listening to a CD about us needing to "Put our Isaac" down. This refers to an "Old Testament" story about a father that deeply loved his son, Isaac. In order to prove his faith, he had to be willing to sacrifice that son.
God didn't require that sacrifice, but the father had to be willing.
This story is also a foreshadowing of the sacrifice of Jesus, the Son of God. God asks us to put our love for him ahead of anything else. I believe Jack went through a process of trusting God enough to "put his Isaac down." Jack was weak with relief to find her alive and healed but he had accepted the other outcome.
They have helped start two churches in their area. They are considering going to Montana to help start a church there. They don't really want to be away from their children and grandchildren for that long, but they are asking God.
As they told the story of starting these churches, I once again saw their faith in action.
They told me a story about the second church they started. At one point, their church needed a building. They prayed. They also asked a real estate agent to help them find a building. They found the perfect building. To buy this building, the church needed $10,000 as a down payment. They church didn't have $10,000. They personally signed the note for the cash down payment for the mortgage on that building. Again, behind their faith was obedience and action. The mortgage has been completely paid off.
The church didn't grow as quickly as they had hoped. Jack became discouraged. Jack went to God and said that he thought they had made a mistake. He said God told him to open his Bible and read it.
He started to look for passages that he knew were relevant. God stopped him and said, "No, just open the Bible and put your thumb down."
He obeyed and the scripture was the following:
"Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." Jeremiah 33:3 NIV
He said, "OK Lord, what is it that I do not know?"
God told him that success wasn't measured in Jack's terms. God had a completely different definition for success. He told Jack to relax and keep doing what he was doing and that it was better for a church to grow slowly anyway.
14 years later they have a growing and thriving church that also has a church school. His son is the principal of the church school. They have a large bus ministry that brings many children to church.
They talked about how difficult it was to leave a church that they didn't believe had a heart for God. It was made more difficult because this church was the first church they helped start. To leave also was humbling because they felt a sense of failure.
They were in deep pain about some disagreements that were splitting the church. They were committed to this church and the people and didn't want to leave. They kept trying to help the people of the church stop fighting and focus on what was important. Jack and Carolyn made several references to people's heart and hearts needing to be "right with God." Jack talked and prayed at every church meeting and had no success.
On Sunday night, they were visiting another church. During that sermon, the preacher said sometimes the right thing to do is to close your mouth. He said that God closed his mouth that night as he realized there was nothing else he could do for that church.
Before they made the decision to leave that church, they both went into a deep season of prayer. They believe in church commitment and didn't want to make a change lightly. This was years ago and they still got emotional when talking about it.
Jack actually went in his closet for a "season of prayer" that would last hours every day. He said Carolyn put a fan under the door to cool the closet off. In the King James edition of the Bible, there is a scripture reference to "praying in your closet." Jack took this scripture literally. Other translations use the word "room" instead of "closet."
"But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." Matthew 6:6 KJV
I asked Carolyn about that time when he was praying in his closet for several hours a day. He even stopped going to work for that period of time. I wondered if she had worried that Jack was in a depression or something. She quickly said, "Oh no. I was right there with him. We needed to hear the voice of God." I admire spouses that support the spiritual journeys of their spouse.
They had a clear and final confirmation from God and finally left that church. If they hadn't left that church, they would not be in the loving fellowship they are now in. What courage it took to follow God's will. What discipline it took to hear his voice when their human voice was screaming so loudly.
Carolyn asked my last name. I told her it was Touchton. She said, "Oh Cheryle, your name means you are going to touch tons of people." I smiled at how clever she was.
Jack reached in his pocked and handed me a $10 bill. He said, "God told me to give you this."
I was stunned and embarrassed. He had seen the car I was driving. He could see the expensive equipment in the car. He was staying at the same place I was staying so he probably knew what I had just spent for the hotel room. It was obvious that I wasn't in desperate need of that $10. I started to argue but he said a second time, "God told me to give you this."
I thanked him for the gift and accepted it. I believed him that God had told him to give it to me. I knew that God was telling me to follow His will and the money would take care of itself. I confessed to Jack about my lack of faith that morning and what that $10 meant. I will keep that $10 bill forever as a symbol of God's faithfulness.
As they left, a beautiful butterfly flew over and landed on my chest. I love butterflies. The changes they go through remind me of my personal spiritual testimony. I believe God sent me that butterfly to remind me of how much He loves me. He sent me the $10 to tell me He was going to take care of me financially. He told me I was going to touch people to assure me that I did hear His voice.
Thank God for Jack and Carolyn. They have learned to depend on God. They love each other. They have children and grandchildren that they treasure. Their entire family worships in the same church that they all love.
They love God more than any of the things referenced above. They long to do His will. Carolyn told me she wanted to listen and respond to God's will before He had to go to the trouble of "getting her attention."
She wanted to assure me that they didn't always "get it right" and there were many times that God had to "wake them up."
They are disciplined in prayer, mediation, and Bible Study. It takes time to hear God so clearly but they have put in this time. They are courageous and follow God's will even when it seems hard. They don't second-guess hearing the voice of God. They trust that God will answer in the best possible way.
If God doesn't talk to you the way that he talks to Carolyn and Jack, begin right now asking Him to speak to you.
Tell Him you want to know Him better. Get a good Bible study that focuses on God's love.
Set your clock early the next morning and spend 30 minutes with God.
Read your Bible and work a Bible Study.
Write your prayer requests, answers, and praises in a journal.
Pray. Confess your sins from the day before. Ask for forgiveness. Pray for any concerns. Praise God for his blessings. Be specific.
Ask God what you are supposed to do today. Get very still. Breathe deeply and listen. Feel God's presence. Calm your mind.
Make sure the answers you hear are consistent with scriptures. God will never ask you to be inconsistent with the Bible.
Don't hesitate. Leave your prayer time and take action.
During the day, when you get confused, emotional, or frightened, stop and ask God for guidance. When something wonderful happens, stop and say thank you. When you make a mistake, apologize to God and to anyone you injured or upset.
When you lay down at night, quietly review your day. Thank God for your blessings. Ask him if you owe anyone an apology. If you do, apologize to God immediately, and to the individual the next day.
Repeat this process every day. Don't skip any days. Be disciplined. Do it in the same place every day. Do it at the same time.
Let your family know that you are not to be disturbed during this time. Be firm. This is a personal time between God and you and nothing is more important.
Phase 1 of this process is difficult. You may become bored or restless. You will be tired. Things will come up that will tempt you to stop. You will make mistakes and realize that you have totally misheard God. Don't get discouraged. Repeat this process anyway. We learn as much by our mistakes as "getting it right."
The next phase is the "habit phase." You do it out of habit. It becomes easy. You will sometimes hear God and sometimes you won't. You will keep doing it because it is a good habit. Each day, you will hear Him more clearly. You will be amazed and surprised at how well you hear Him. You will see spiritual progress in yourself and, amazingly, in others around you.
The final state is joyful. You wake up in the mornings looking forward to the time with God. Your spot now looks like you. If you drink coffee, there are coffee stains near your spot. Everyone in your family knows this is your spot and where you pray for them. It is sweet. Your time with God gets longer. You find yourself wanting to set that clock earlier. You act on God's instruction with confidence and are now surprised when you didn't hear correctly. You laugh and try again. You are deeply in love with God and it is the joy of your life.
I didn't see two perfect human beings in Jack and Carolyn. I saw two human beings in a love relationship with their Father that took years to develop. This love relationship has resulted in a love relationship with people around them. Their lives are living proof of God's faithfulness.
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