Don’t Be a Doubter
Have you ever doubted that God would meet your needs, then berated yourself for not trusting Him? This incident happened to me some years ago.
I was doubting His provision that Sunday morning before Christmas as I slumped into the church pew waiting for the service to begin. It was our last Sunday in the community where our children had grown up. My husband had to take early retirement, we were moving, and we still had children in college. How would we make it?
Each year during the worship service just before Christmas, church members of this denomination nationwide brought offerings to help send missionaries and medical personnel around the world to minister the love of Jesus. For months before Christmas, church members prayed and planned for this special offering. Even children saved their pennies to give.1
That Sunday, just as families were to bring their money gifts to lay on the altar, the pastor asked Helen to come to the podium and relate a story she had told him earlier.
“Most of you know I’ve been a widow five years and live on a very limited income,” she said. “Yet when I prayed about how much I was to contribute to our Christmas mission offering, $200 kept coming to my mind. I didn’t have any idea how I would get that kind of money. But I wrote the amount down and presented it to the Lord in prayer often, thanking Him in advance that He would provide it.
“After Thanksgiving, I promised my married daughter I’d search in the attic of our old homeplace to see if I could find some legal papers she needed. While rummaging around up there, I spied a small tin labeled ‘electrical tape.’ Thinking I need that later, I slipped the container into my pocket, climbed out of the attic and went about my other chores.
“Imagine my surprise later when I opened the can to use the tape. Inside I found a tight roll of bills. Exactly $200.” Helen waved a small round can excitedly in the air for all of us to see. “In here is God’s mission money for His kids in need,” she explained.
I wondered how many years earlier Helen’s husband had hidden that money away for a rainy day, never realizing it would be discovered at the exact moment it was needed to meet a prayer request.
My heart leapt within me. I smiled and straightened my shoulders. Surely my Heavenly Father had more than a tin of money to help meet our needs.
Over the next months following our move, as I prayed for ways to meet our expenses, I’d remember Helen and thank God in advance that money was forthcoming. The three children found good paying summer jobs to help with tuition costs. Our oldest graduated. A garden provided for some of our food needs. My husband landed another job. And because of our relocation, we now lived close enough to help nurse my mother during her cancer battle. And so it went.
Though many years have passed, I still smile when I remember the lessons of trust God taught me through Helen and her little tin of money–a widow’s big faith and our Heavenly Father’s big faithfulness.
Yes, you have a few stories of your own. Just recall a time when you were surprised by the provisions that came even when you were in a doubtful mood. Or when you experienced a blessing just when you desperately needed encouragement. So why not tell someone about your “Hallelujah experience” and help build their faith? And praise God once again for His goodness.
Prayer: Lord, thank You for Your faithful provision and protection of us through the years– for the many ways You have met our needs and exceeded our hopes. Thank You too that You sent Your Son to give His life as a sacrifice for our sins. What a gift. What love! Amen.
Scripture: (Jesus speaking) “Therefore, I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” (Mark 11:24 NKJV)
And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19 NKJV)
Footnote 1. Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, Named for Lottie Moon (1840-1912) who served as a missionary in China for many years.
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