Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Of Brooms, Blessings, and God's Wondrous Deeds

Late Saturday was spent trying to make my back yard presentable for a BBQ on Sunday afternoon. As I wrapped up my labors I realized that my patio was covered with dirt but that I had no broom adequate for the task. So as has become my way of life, I thought Godward in the moment and wondered how my Heavenly Father might provide me with a good broom to get this done.

Sunday morning arrived and since I was not preaching I decided that I could spare the energy to take our dog Heidi for a walk; something I had never done on a Sunday AM before. And what do I find in the neighborhood, but buried curbside under a pile of garbage a high quality sturdy patio broom. I threw it over my shoulder with heart rejoicing in God and headed on home.

You might think this a happy or lucky coincidence, but I know it to be the hand of God. After all it's the kind of thing that's happened hundreds of times in our family's life ; too many times to be unguided coincidence.

Sunday afternoon I talked with my son Tim who, with Brooke, had just moved into a new place. T and B are living examples of a couple sold out to Christ and the church, and choosing to live simply so that they might aerve and give liberally to the cause of the gospel. So needless to say I'm confident that God will provide their every need, too .

Anyway, TW mentioned that he would be needing a desk for his office at home (he works three days a week from home). I told him--partially joking, but with real faith, that on my way over to visit him in his new home, I'd be looking for God to provide a desk. We laughed--not a laugh of unbelief, like Sarah in Genesis 18:10-12--but a laugh of knowing, trusting glee. We knew that if not within the next hour, somehow and sometime God would provide.

Within the hour, as Gayline and I drove down Rt. 37 to T and B's here's whatI see: a desk on the side of the road, being thrown out by others, being provided by God. Gayline and I loaded it up, and delivered it to T and B, not one hour after the need had been made known.

Folks, this is God. I could fill up a hundred blog posts giving examples of God's care of us in meeting needs in stunning ways (the two I've mentioned are but small and inconsequential examples!). Whenever we drive and walk and pray and decide on how needs in our life are going to be met, Gayline and I look for God's provisions. Call me a scrounger or call me a man looking for manna from heaven. As best I know my heart, the second description fits me more closely than the first.

I am aware that God loves to provide in amazing ways. He's done it so often for Gayline and me that we've come to see it as the norm, not the exception. I could tell of cars provided, shoes from heaven, cancer treatments prepared beforehand, clothes given, furniture supplied, bills paid, a daughter's retina reattached by miracle, food delivered, and a whole lot more.

It would blow your mind. But then, that's what God loves to do: blow our minds. He loves to do things that make us stop and wonder and worship.

What has He done for you lately? I'm sure He's done as much for you as He has for me, or anyone else who's walking faithfully with Him. Stop and notice, and it'll fill you with wonder!

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4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I found your reference to your daughter's reattached retina especially interesting and praise worthy. :D

Also the cancer treatments...............

and on a lighter note..........did Tim like the desk? because when he gets what he's looking for i get the old one which is ALSO a blessing because I have been looking for one like his!

June 2, 2009 at 11:55 AM  
Blogger Petros said...

What a care-free and exciting way to live!

We have similar stories of our own. But people, generally, don't get it. The #1 response we get when we tell people that we have 9 children is this... "how can you afford it!"

And that's one question Theresa and I have never asked, or worried about. God has met our needs over and over again. Thank You Lord!

June 2, 2009 at 11:13 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Alina: I couldn't agree more! How God has cared for our children in their times of great trial and provided in ways only He could work. When (and even before) human resources have failed God was already at work in behalf of our family! I weep for joy!

And Peter: this is indeed this is a happy and care-free way to live! I would not exchange it for all the money and earthly securities in the world! Give me a life in which the only thing coveted is more of God, and in which the first thought in every time of need is not: "How can I meet it or pay for it?" but "I wonder how God is going to meet this need this time around!"

Let us all live and give in such a way that we are forced to pray "give us this day our daily bread" and then stand back and watch God do just that!

Do any others agree? Let us know!

Tim

June 3, 2009 at 6:59 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Tim, Thanks for sharing God's blessings. It encourages me. I am reading among other things, the Bio of George Mueller. How through him, God provided for 30 then 50 then 110 then 300 and finally over 10,000 orphans. 3 meals a day, a Christian education, 5 pants and shirts for each boy, and 3 dresses for each girl....all through prayer. Frequently after feeding them breakfast, he had not a schilling left for lunch. He and his team prayed for every meal, not so much for God to bless it, but for God to provide it. He died at 96 years old and every shop in Bristol was closed as well as every road into Bristol jamed for miles with people coming to honor him. How did he do all this? Prayer, prayer and more prayer, believing God. I wonder as I read, have I ever really prayed believing? I find I more often pray as a last resort. Lord teach me to pray. Forgive me for the insult to your good will toward your own.
JR

June 3, 2009 at 7:58 AM  

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