I strongly believe that God does provide for us in our need. Our needs can be met through unusual channels, or more simply and directly, but I do feel that our needs are met if we can just trust and have faith in His workings.
A few very specific examples come to mind, from my own life experiences.
Long ago, when I was married to my first husband and mom to two little boys, we were living basically hand to mouth. We had very little money for our needs, and even less for any wants. We were quite stressed about a medical bill that was hanging over our heads. There really wasn't anywhere else to pare our budget down to pay this bill. If I recall, we didn't even have our phone turned on at the time. Our finances were so tight they squeaked. I remember laying in bed at night and wondering if God had any answers for folks like us. It wasn't long after that when I made my daily walk to the mailbox, expecting to find more bills---but this time I found a check for $400. I could hardly believe my eyes! That was an incredible amount of money to me then. Apparently I had forgotten about an old insurance policy, and the cash value was now mine. I actually cried out by the mailbox in front of God and everyone. The relief in being able to honor our medical bill was incredible.
(Those years seem light-years away. I sit in my lovely home now and wonder what my 20 year old self would think of all of this.)
Many years later, I found the courage to leave an abusive man after 11 years of Hell. Even though I was scared to death and wasn't sure how I was going to support myself and my two teenage boys, I knew that I must go through with this to save our very lives. I distinctly remember standing in the shower one night, weeping there so my boys wouldn't have to hear mom cry again, saying "God, help me." The next day, the student clinic where I'd done my doctoral internship called me and asked if I could step in for one of their part-time counselors this semester, as she had to leave abruptly. The job would neatly work with my other job as a teaching assistant. It was like manna from Heaven, and it enabled me to care for my family at a very turbulent time.
Most recently, I left a job I'd had for nearly 8 years, burnt out, deeply unhappy. In a move very unlike me, I resigned before I had my next moves planned out. I really didn't know what I was going to do next or where. I just knew that if I didn't leave, my soul, marriage, physical health---indeed, my life was in danger of disintegrating. So no backup plans to fall upon, no path chosen, nothing. I allowed myself to fall back into God's arms. The ultimate trust exercise! The funny thing is, I felt totally at peace and not at all afraid. Oddly enough, a few weeks later I was offered a dream job with an agency I'd admired for a long time, and had worked in conjunction with for years. And with that gift came the gifts of renewed health, spirit and relationship.
The Universe indeed does move in mysterious ways!
LOOOOVE when this happens. When Tom was downsized TWICE in one year it was pretty traumatic. I budgeted really amazingly (we're talking $70 a week for groceries for all three of us) and we followed all the "rules" and we reached the bottom of our bank account.
ReplyDeleteAll the sudden, an insurance check came in for something we had paid for months ago. It was for $1800. HUGE. I mean, it was like months of groceries. I was thrilled. It was so amazing, so well timed.
And to be honest, the entire downsizing was, too. Tom was really hating his job, he was burned out, but he couldn't just leave because the economy was terrible. And when he didn't get a job for a while, we realized that he could go back to school (something he has wanted more than most anything) so he could finish his degree and certifications and get a better job. Right after he signed up, he got an amazing job offer with a company willing to be flexible so he could continue with school and doing work he LOVES. So in hindight, just placing our faith in the process of things by signing Tom up for classes seems to trigger all this amazing stuff.
(A-ha moment!) Thank you for this!