We were pastoring a church in Homer, AK when we were in our 20's and God was blessing and the church was growing! Lol. I remember Jim having a dream that he woke up and we were in bed and the first pew was at the end of our bed! Lol. God was blessing in such a way, that we were, literally, as a church, knocking walls out to increase the size of the sanctuary! Only God can do that!
During this time 50 people came to know the Lord! It was, completely, a God thing! A family of 6 had, recently, accepted Christ, one by one and been baptized in a horse trough! At least it was a new one with a nice skirt made to fit around it. The water was too cold outside! Jim was spending alot time discipling these new believers.
During this time, our only vehicle was an old Willy's Jeep that had been brought over on the ferry from other side of the the Kachemak Bay; it had been sitting in a mud hole. Jim had restored it. It was great in alot of snow with it's lowest gear, it could power through almost anything! I saw it go through snow up to the hood one time for about 50 ft. and then just came to a halt and we had to back out! But, now it was giving us trouble and it was getting harder for us to get where we needed to go. It had broken down on us, a couple times already and had become much less dependable.
One Wednesday night prayer meeting, we asked the congregation to pray that God would provide a four wheel drive vehicle for us and explained, "It doesn't have to be new, we just need something that gets us where we need to go." So, the prayers began! I remember thinking to myself, "This will be an encouragement to these that are new in the Lord, to see how God provides!"
A few weeks went by and a fellow believer from the Anchorage church and his family came to Homer for the weekend and invited us out to their cabin for supper. As we visited, Claude asked Jim if he knew of anyone that needed a vehicle. Jim laughed and said, "Well, we do! We just asked the congregation a few weeks ago to be in prayer about it. The Willy's is getting less dependable, it's broken down on us a few times."
Well, this brother in the Lord, was quite excited and explained that in another month or so, he would be getting a new SUV and that he had a 4 wheel drive Scout, that did have some rust, but was a dependable car and he'd be glad for us to have it!
We were so grateful for God's provision! We were excited, as Wednesday approached, to share with the congregation, how God was answering our prayer request for a vehicle! I was, especially, excited to share it with my parents, who were new believers, who hadn't had a chance, yet, to see how God cares for his children!
Now, my parents lived in SC and had been visiting several people in a nursing home across town and had just had their car break down on them twice and weren't wanting to tell those dear people that they weren't going to be able to drive that distance anymore. They started out visiting two and now had gained three more, that had no one visiting them. My parents were getting up in age, themselves and were feeling less and less secure about these trips across town with this car. Mom laughed, as I told her about the scout and said with enthusiasm, "Pray God provides a car for us, we don't want to disappoint these folks, they look forward to us coming!" My mom and dad were now retired and the house payments were higher than they would have desired and they didn't feel they had the money, at the moment, to buy a car.
So, the next Wednesday night prayer meeting, Jim shared about God's provision for a vehicle for us, the scout, and told them the whole story. Everyone was gracious and happy for us for all God was doing! Remembering my mom and dad and really desiring them to see God's hand of provision, on THEIR behalf, I raised my hand and told the congregation about my mom and dad's ministry at the nursing home and asked them to pray about a car for them.
The lady that was sitting behind me was new in the Lord, and I saw her roll her eyes, as I turned talking to those behind me, about my parents need. When I was done, she muttered under her breath, loud enough to hear, "Oh brother, she thinks God is going to give everyone a car, now!"and she added, sarcastically, "What about me, pray for a car me!" I only laughed, because I knew that God wouldn't pass up a opportunity like that!
Well, a couple months passed and Jim, my daughter, Jill and I were sitting at the dinner table when the phone rang. Jim got up to answer the phone and we continued eating. We were hearing only one side of the conversation, but I don't mind telling you, even the one side, began to sound pretty exciting!
It seems, this brother in the Lord, Claude, had ordered a brand new SUV, for himself, out of Seattle, Washington and went to pick it up. According to his testimony, "That night, I had trouble sleeping and as I was lying awake, talking to the Lord, he said, "Why are you buying yourself a new SUV and not providing the same for my servant?" He said, "I told the Lord, this SUV cost $10,000, you show me where there is another $10,000 somewhere and I will!"
Now, you need to know something that was extraordinary about this brother in the Lord. His life goal wasn't to tithe 10% of his money, as the scriptures teach, but his goal, was to give God 90% of all God gave him! Think about it 90%!!! (Talking about a man with a heart for God!)
Well, apparently, God decided he could trust a man like that with an extra $10,000 because as Claude told it to us, the next morning his wife called to tell him some good news: an office building that he had been trying sell sold. (You guessed it!) The building sold for $10, 000 more than he had hoped! He told his wife about his conversation with the Lord, the night before, and they praised God together for all he had done and the opportunity to help "God's servant"! What dear people!
Now, Jim's on the phone, completely speechless, and in awe of what Claude is now sharing with him! The car is in Anchorage waiting for us to pick it up! Jim hung up the phone and shared what God had done and there was some shouting going on in the parsonage that night! God's goodness brought us to our feet, right then and there, in celebration! We were in awe and completely elated by all God was doing! We prayed and thanked God for his servant, a man, that would be that obedient to God and for his testimony to us and for all God had done!
Then we began to talk about going to pick up the car; Anchorage was 3 hours away, if we drove, we'd need two adults to go, one to drive our car and the other to drive the new car back. The easier way would be to have Jim fly and drive the car back, but we didn't have that kind of money, at the moment, it was Christmas time! So, we stopped and prayed and asked God to show us his plan. "We are short on money, Lord, you gave us a brand new SUV, you, surely, will make a way for us to afford to go pick it up!"
The phone rang in the midst of our discussion and Dave, another brother in the Lord, in our church, on the other end of the phone said, "Pastor Jim, this is Dave, I bought a round trip to Anchorage on sale, do you know anyone that could use it?" How awesome is that? I was only hearing Jim's side of the conversation, but Jill and I got the message just fine and we were all but airborne!" Jim told Dave all that had just taken place and Dave said he would bring it to us right now!
Well, Jim went and picked up the car and drove it back from Anchorage the next day! There aren't enough words on God's green earth to explain our awe or our gratitude! We were excited, as Wednesday approached, to share with our congregation all that God had done! God's word says, "The blessing of the Lord brings wealth and he adds no trouble to it!"
(I was so excited, I called my mom to share all that God had done!)
My mom rejoiced with us and laughed and said, "Well, keep praying for our car, I'm afraid it's on it's last legs!"
That night the lady that had been sitting behind me, at prayer meeting, just weeks before, that was young in the Lord, didn't comment when we shared what God had done. I was thankful she was getting her first experience of God's amazing grace though!
Well, the story doesn't stop there! Some might say, "Well, that's awesome that God provided for a pastor, who happened to know somebody, who happened to . . ."
It was not happenstance, it was God choosing to provide for someone who loved him, who simply asked believing! Listen to the rest of the story!
My mom called a few weeks later, she was crying and I could not understand her, she was sobbing so, I thought someone had died! My mom, finally, got the words out, God had sent someone to them with a $10,000 check and the man said, "This is to buy a car, you're meeting the needs of those folks over there at the nursing home and it means alot to them, if you need more let me know!" Wow! I bet you think I'm lying, but I'm not! It happened! Not only that, but it happened to my folks again when that car wore out; the same man came to them with the same amount, $10,000 and said exactly the same thing: "If you need more, let me know!"
These true stories cause my faith to soar, when the storms of life hit! They restore my joy and faith just at their memory!! We serve an amazing God and he knows we're here!
Yes, I am going through some deep trials right now, God is requiring more faith than he's ever required of me before; but what you need to know, is God is seeing me through them and his provision, right now, blows these stories out of the water! I've never experienced anything even close to this!!!! Not even close!
Our God is an ever PRESENT help, in trouble, to those who walk in his ways! He is our PROVIDER and he's capable of FAR MORE THAN YOU CAN THINK TO IMAGINE!!!! As my friend Missy says, "He's blessing my socks off!"and right in the middle of the greatest trial, the greatest loss of my life! He makes my heart soar, at just the thought of him! My deepest desire is for you to KNOW him, more deeply, more personally, and to know he is alive and a very PRESENT help in the lives of those who are called by HIS name! May God increase your faith, just by the reading! I'm praying for each and everyone of you, that you will come to KNOW the God I serve! We were meant to seek after him DAILY, his Son's death gives us access right into the throne room of God! Won't you believe and enter in? He loves you and there's nothing you've ever done that he won't forgive! "My heart says of you, 'Seek his face!', your face Lord I seek!"
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