Stories of God's Provision

One of the convictions the Lord has given me ever since reading biographies about missionaries like George Muller, Hudson Taylor, Amy Carmichael, and Lillian Trasher is to tell Him, and Him alone, of my needs for provision rather than telling people or soliciting financial support from others. Not only do the examples of these heroes of faith inspire me in this path, but more importantly, the very words of my Father Himself as He promises to provide for me, answer prayer, and meet my needs.

Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:25-33)

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. (John 15:16)

I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. (Psalm 81:10)

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)

Based on the Lord's working in my heart, I determined several years ago that I would either earn what I needed for missionary service or pray for God to provide it in a supernatural way. He often chooses to do this by touching the hearts of people and prompting them to give financially. When these experiences take place, it is so evident that the Lord is at work, I cannot help but sing His praises and glorify His Name! Additionally, such a walk of faith strengthens my dependance on the Lord and teaches me of His trustworthiness. When you have no safety net but Jesus, you realize your need for Him in a powerful way!

Let me insert here that I do not stand in condemnation of missionaries whose fund-raising methods are different. For some, deputation or solicitation of support is all they know, and God works through these methods to provide for them. He has many ways of supplying our needs!

However, ever since I began doing short term mission work at age 18, I have put this faith-walk to the test and found the Lord ever faithful to provide! This new chapter in life is no exception. Let me share with you what the Lord has done, that you too might be encouraged to trust Him fully with your needs!

In January, when I sensed the Lord leading me to prepare for language school in the fall and received my parent’s blessing, I calculated that I would need to work until the very last minute and save more than half my income every month in order to have enough to pay for my tuition, room and board, and books at school. This would not leave any money leftover for extra expenses like toiletries, school supplies, dorm furnishings, or airline tickets home for Christmas, but would only cover the bare minimum of a year at school. As I worked and saved diligently, I prayed for the Lord to take care of all these needs and show Himself strong on my behalf. In the spring months, God laid it on the hearts of several families and individuals to give toward my dream of going to language school. I was completely surprised and blessed by the generous monetary gifts these people gave! Coupled with the money I had already saved, their gifts allowed me to have enough to pay for tuition, room and board, and books all by the end of April rather than the end of July!

This meant I could use my tax return money to purchase a new laptop rather than needing it for school bills. Due to a long, futile struggle with viruses on my Windows laptop, I decided it would be a good investment to purchase a Macbook due to the fact that they don’t get viruses. According to the research I had done online, the cost of a Macbook alone (including tax) would use up every penny of my tax return. There would be no extra money for the necessary software I would also need to purchase.

Rather than taking money out of savings to cover the entire bill, I decided to take the matter to the Lord, asking Him to provide everything I needed within my set budget. Shortly after I began praying about the matter, I had a conversation with my pastor about Mac computers. He told me that $50 student discounts were available for those who would be using a Mac at college. This was exciting news! Maybe, just maybe, this discount would allow me to have enough money after all!

With excitement to see what God would do and my firmly set budget in place, I marched into the Apple store to learn about my options. Well, my friends, it turns out that I was able to receive a $100 student discount on the laptop, a $30 discount on the software, and even a free printer with my purchase! (I hadn’t even thought about the need for a printer, but God had! Isn't that just like Him to provide above and beyond our needs?) I ended up walking out of the Apple store with all these provisions in tow and still had a few dollars leftover! Wow - God is so good!

As if all this wasn’t enough, He also answered my prayer for a new camera. My other camera had broken, and while this is more a want than need, I still prayed that He would provide one. My parents didn’t know I had been secretly talking to the Lord about this issue. As my birthday approached, my dad went to the electronics store to buy me an external hard drive for my new computer as a birthday gift, but he ended up walking out with a camera instead! In telling me about it later, he stated that as he made his way to the computer section of the store, he saw the cameras out of the corner of his eye and remembered that my camera had been giving me trouble lately. As he examined the camera options, he felt led to buy me one instead of the hard drive! We both know now Who did the “leading” in that situation!

I could go on and on with additional stories about the provisions that have poured in from my Heavenly Father’s coffers! It has been exciting and even a little bit overwhelming to see just how faithful God is to provide for us when we trust Him. Hudson Taylor said, “God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.” Another favorite quote says, “Where God guides, He provides.”

I know my situation is not unique. Many of you may also be in a state of needing God’s provision. May I encourage you to seek His face about the matter, to trust Him and not worry, and to commit your way unto Him? He longs to be our confidant...our Guide along the journey...our Father who hears and answers prayers!

I sit here tonight humbled by all that God has done...and the story has only begun.

If you are one of the many whom God has used to provide for my needs... in the form of money, gift cards, or items for school... I thank you from the bottom of my heart! Thank you for being sensitive to the Lord's promptings. Thank you for your investment in my life. You are a true blessing! I will try, by God's grace, to be a wise steward of all that I have been given.

Please join me tonight in praising the living God for His very real, very tangible demonstrations of love, care, and provision. He is Jehovah Jireh yesterday, today, and forever!