Have you ever felt surrounded by trouble? I have. During trying times, I struggle with unbelief that God will come through and meet my needs. When the fear of the unknown hits me like a ton of bricks, it is helpful to remember the ways He has provided for me in other situations.
WHERE WAS GOD?
I remember a particularly difficult season when I was about to lose my job through no fault of my own. I struggled with anger and fear over losing the income and benefits my job provided. I wanted to trust God, but it was not easy. I lived in that desperately uncomfortable space between where I was and where I needed to be. I had zero power to make things change. I needed to rely on God’s ability to provide a way. I knew he could, I just wasn’t sure he would. With each day that passed, it felt like the pressure for a resolution was exponentially increasing. I needed an answer ASAP! Where was God?
SOAP, SOAP AND MORE SOAP
One morning as I was praying about all these things, God reminded me of a time when we had no money until payday and ran out of bar soap. Frank came home from work that day with a bag of things his dad had gotten from Grandmom’s house. There were SO MANY bars of soap!!! In addition to abundantly meeting our needs, there were SEVERAL bottles of mouthwash (something I love but feel is an extravagance). Soap wasn’t as dire as losing a chunk of income and our health benefits, but it was a personal reminder of the truth of God’s love and ability to meet my needs. No matter how things looked regarding my job, I asked God to help me trust He would provide His best.
Two weeks before my last day at my old job, God moved in a big way. I got a great job offer with my top choice company. So often, we flippantly throw around the exhortation that “God can do anything!” as we wait with expectation for all the possible ways he can do that wonderful, miraculous thing we need or long for. We all want a miracle, yet none of us really wants to be in the place where we need that miracle. No one wants to be unemployed with bills and children to care for. No one wants to get a life altering or life-threatening diagnosis.
REMEMBER WHAT HE HAS DONE
The Bible tells us to remember what He has done. In Deuteronomy 11:19-19, Moses encouraged the Israelites to remember the mighty acts God had done in their past and to trust His power and provision for where He was taking them. No one wants to be between a rock and hard place like the Israelites, hotly pursued by Pharaoh and his army on one side and hemmed in by the Red Sea on the other (Exodus 14:5-29). They thought they were safely out of Egypt when on the horizon appeared their worst enemy. God provided the miracle, and Moses repeatedly reminded them of it.
MORE THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE
Maybe you find yourself in a difficult place and are struggling to believe He will meet your needs. Maybe His miracle answer doesn’t feel like one. Your miracle of provision may look different than what you expected. Oh friend, I know that pain as well. Christ’s love and ways are beyond our understanding. I pray that you will call to mind some of the miraculous ways God has provided for you in the past. He can do more than you could ever imagine.
“Now to Him who is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think [infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams], according to His power that is at work within us.” (Ephesians 3:20)