GOD
SHOWED UP!!
A two-Part Miracle Story
Those of us who faithfully attend
church – go expecting God to be there. We know that Worship will be awesome and
that we’ll enjoy a great time in His Presence; we know that our Pastor will
have a fresh Word and Revelation from God’s Word… we are confident that God
will meet us, every time we get together!
We can however, become so comfortable
with the “normal routine” and what God “usually does” – that if we aren’t careful,
we could miss what He’s doing at the moment!
This is the kind of day we had on Sunday!
Worship was really good, as it always
is – and the Presence of God was evident, as it always. We had a guest speaker
that day, and he taught on Stewarding Your
Talents… a really great word. One thing that he said that I’m still
chewing on… “If you don’t use the talent that God gave you, you will never
increase.” Selah!
No one was expecting anything unusual on
this day… we were all going about our business, getting things done, and
enjoying our time together.
The short version of part one of this Miracle Story goes like
this…
A young couple came to the church
looking for the pastor, two hours before service; our pastor is out of the
Country ministering, so we were limited in the help that we could offer them. This beautiful young couple were traveling from Seattle, WA
to Southern California – with no vehicle and no money. They were looking for
help, to get home. The policy of the church-world here is to never give anyone “cash”
– and we knew that our little church couldn’t afford to purchase two tickets to
CA for them; so, we didn’t know just what we could do. After a little nap, the couple
joined us for service. All through Worship – the Holy Spirit kept these kids
before us; it was clear that GOD sent them our way – and we needed to do something
for them!
We are clearly instructed in God’s
Word… “If someone comes to Your door in need,
don’t just say… ‘God bless you, I’ll pray for you’ and send them on their way!
Meet the need if you can.”
We had an unusually small crowd on
this Sunday, it being the last weekend before School starts; and to look at our
congregation that day and think that they might come up with $300.00 To buy
these kids bus tickets – was a real stretch for our faith… however, that seemed
to be the direction we needed to go (about 80% of the congregation that day were people from a
local community house, who probably didn’t have the price of a cup of coffee). Sooo… very
briefly, with absolutely no detail at all, we simply presented the opportunity
to be a blessing and meet a need; covered it with prayer – and left it with the
Lord.
When we went to count this offering,
our mind set was that we would add a small amount to it - and buy two tickets –
to get this couple as close to home as we could. When I walked into the office,
one of the church-elders was standing in the middle of the room with a “STUNNED” look on his face; he was truly amazed by what God had just done for those
kids. Not only were we able to send this
young couple all the way to their home near Los Angeles, we were able to feed
them, buy them shoes and jackets that they obviously needed, as well as send
them on their way with a new suitcase filled with warm, clean clothes, and
food, etc. that they would need for their thirty-hour journey. “It’s
Christmas!” The young man proclaimed, through tears - as they thanked
us over and over again.
It was evident to this couple, and to
us - that GOD HIMSELF came to church
that day… and HE personally met the
needs of this sweet young couple. We don’t always get it “right” … this one we
did!! Thank you Jesus!! What PURE JOY it was, to be a part of what God had on HIS
agenda for the day.
And…
the rest of the story….
One of the people in church that day, was a young lady who was recently widowed. She was
putting money away for a specific need that she had – but felt that she needed
to give to… whatever the need was. I was one of the few who knew exactly what
this offering was for, and because of the large amount that this gal gave
toward meeting this need, I wanted her to know what it was all about. So, I
emailed her the entire story on that Sunday afternoon, and reminded her that
God would give that back to her – according to Luke 6:38 … “Pressed
down, shaken together and running over…”
This is part of the eMail I received
in return, two hours later:
Thank you for sharing what this need was truly about (it
brings confirmation) because boy do I have a story for you!! What a marvelous
day!! God is AWESOME!! God sure doesn't take long for showing His reward for obedience;
in today's case... it took less than an hour!!
Some background before I get to the reward… The Lord has
been laying on my heart for a few weeks about the
story of the talents in Matthew. About how the Lord gave them each something
different and they did different things with what they were given. My prayer
has been Lord, I want to multiply what you have given
me. Thinking the Lord wanted me to invest some of the money I got from selling
Floyd's truck, etc. - so that I could have more to buy a new
vehicle for myself, without debt. But
when I heard the message today on the talents it revealed it had very little to
do with money but more about the Spiritual Gifts (…not to mention how God' timing is perfect - hearing the message and
all). ……
So… today, I brought a guest with me to church; he is not
sure of God or church. We have been friends for 10-years, and he has heard how
God takes care of His kids. On the drive back to the house on Sunday, we talk about
the message, the church and the "need". He saw that I wrote a check... so we talked
about that. I gave what I thought I heard the Lord say I should give. My friend
and I talked about this on the way home and about how God has provided for me.
How Floyd was out of work for two years, me for six months and with the house
payment not ever late. I said it's God's money; He is the one who has been
making the house payment, paying bills, providing food - not me. So we get home
and I'm going to give him some of Floyd's clothes and I find an envelope. I
thought, that is a thick envelope - maybe papers or something so I don't want
to open it right now …maybe money, but again thought I don't want to open it until
I’m alone. But I felt that the Lord was saying to open it – no, I thought again
– and again I
heard - OPEN IT! When I opened
the envelope - $7,000 cash fell out on the floor!! Talk about an AWESOME God!!
My friend and I both witnessed
exactly what we talked about at church - He saw God work! Amazed! He can’t even believe what just happened -
what he heard at church, on the ride home and then what he just witnessed.
Yes, I'm thankful for the money… but even more so, the reward
of this “witness” was greater!! Another answer to prayer!! God was working overtime today!! And
on the day He “rests”! ha!! Just imagine
what He does on “work days”!! J
God is soooo POWERFUL!
Yes… GOD SHOWED UP AT CHURCH SUNDAY –
and HE IS ALL ABOUT TAKING CARE OF HIS KIDS!
jjdaniel – praising my Father for His
faithfulness and His goodness!
