Sometimes, you just know it’s God. Most of the time I’d say He works behind the scenes and we’re not even aware of what He does for us but once in a while…
A couple of weeks ago we had a fairly large sum of cash get lost. Because Pete had it at the time he felt awful and was quite upset, to the point of obsessing about it. I asked him, “What if it fell out of your pocket and was found by a single mom with kids to feed, who didn’t know how she was going to buy food? What if God was using that money to meet the need of someone who needed it worse than we do?” After a while he stopped worrying about it. God has always – ALWAYS – met our needs, even when we didn’t see how, He has never failed us, and most of the time He has used His other children to be a blessing to us, just as He has often used us to bless others. So the loss of that cash really wasn’t a horrible thing in my mind.
Which takes me back to 25 years ago or so. I was a single mom and Casey and I were living on a shoestring. I had a $20 bill in my car for groceries that week, and when I opened the door to check my mailbox a gust of wind came and blew it out the door. I couldn’t catch it; it was gone. I don’t remember to this day how God met that need for groceries, but I don’t remember us starving – ever – so I know He did.
Anyway, a couple of days later a friend who was legally blind and married to a man who had a really short fuse happened to be at the mailbox when I was there, and told me, “Sherry, the strangest thing happened! My husband had given me $20 to pay on our layaway and I lost it. I didn’t want to tell him because I knew he’d be furious but I didn’t know what I was going to do. Then I looked down, and there was a $20 bill, right over there! What a coincidence, eh?”
OK, back to 2020. A couple weeks has passed by since that cash had disappeared, our bills have been paid for the month, we’ve had food, every need has been met. After a day in another part of the state (we always travel to different areas to do our shopping, it keeps it from getting tedious, plus we can see different scenery and it’s more like a date!) we came home feeling good – tired, but a good kind of tired. Pete got the mail and saw an envelope from a friend of his who is in the ministry. When he opened it he was shocked to see that not only had God restored that lost money, but more besides!
I just want to say that God isn’t Santa Claus. What we have is His, and He has used it – through us – many times. So we know how it works. He puts a need on one of His servants’ heart for the need of another. We’ve never known what the need was, or even that there was a need beforehand. But when we’re faithful with the finances He has provided, through tithing (meaning 10% straight off the top to support our church) and additional giving for special circumstances and obedience to His call to help someone else, He provides the means to obey so we don’t have to ever say, “But Father, then I won’t have enough for [whatever bill is due]!” And we never would. Because over and over again, more times than we can count, we’ve been assured of His faithfulness in meeting Every. Single. Need.
And that is no doubt how He used Pete’s friend, as that’s how He uses all who are open to His leading, obedient to His commands, and living by faith in His provision. And for whoever was blessed by our original “loss”, I hope you see the hand of God in that little windfall, and give Him the glory!
I always love reading your stuff, Sher! You have quite a way with words!! <3
Thanks, I’m glad it came out as well as it did, I had to rewrite it several times :).
Oh this is just wonderful!!! What a great way to look at our lose as someone else’s blessings!!! Praise the LORD in all circumstances!! Yes, we have had some really hard times, but NEVER once had to do without whatever we truly needed. Our hardest times was in 2008 and 2009, and God opened doors that we could not have opened. Still praising Him for His Goodness!
Amen, and just think of all the ways He works on our behalf when we don’t even know it, making our paths straight and saving us from our enemies!