Providence

At one time, my screen saver said "The Lord Provides." I put that on during a particularly trying time financially. Apparently, He must have provided one more time because I haven't gone without a meal and I still have shelter and electricity. It's in times like that I've learned this: Providence ain't just the capital of Rhode Island.

I just signed up to do "Christmas on Mission," a project that my church choir has taken on in which we do a day trip to Bluffton, SC (where we partner with church planters) to perform two back-to-back concerts for the community; then, we fly to San Diego (where we also partner with church planters) for a long weekend to canvas neighborhoods, including caroling for residents, and perform two community concerts in a local park; lastly, we finish up with a local concert in Spartanburg for our church and the community here. It's an agressive schedule, but I'm excited about being a part of it, and anticipating what God will do.

I paid my deposit last week, knowing that God wants me to go and that He will provide the rest of the cost. I know this because He has proven it time and time again. He truly does provide. And He never asks us to do anything for Him that He doesn't make a way for it to happen.

I learned this on my first mission trip with my church. I decided three weeks before the fact to take a trip to Methuen, Massachusetts to help a couple who were planting a church there. I felt God wanted me to go, just because of the way it even came up for me to be asked to go, but I needed a little reassurance. I asked God to tell me for sure. I didn't have the deposit money, but if He'd provide it, I would know for sure that He wanted me there. I went to Bible Study the next night after praying that prayer, and in the process of asking everyone to pray for the situation, someone I'd never even met before that night handed me a check out of the blue. It was for the exact amount of my deposit. Within eight days of committing to go, God provided every penny I needed and then some. I finished the trip with $200 to spare, which I later had the opportunity to give to someone else who had committed to go on a trip and didn't have the money.

I'm thinking of another time that God provided. It was during a time that I wasn't committed to Him as I should be. I was doing my own thing and not living the way I knew I should. I was living in Raleigh, NC at the time. It was around Christmastime and I was running out of money. I needed groceries with no money to buy them and still pay my other bills. I was there alone with really no friends. I decided that I would use the plastic and just go get them. I couldn't starve, after all.

My apartment complex was having a Christmas party that evening, but I was so down, I didn't even want to go. Before I left to go the grocery store, I looked across the grassy area between my back door and the clubhouse and saw them preparing for the party. At that point, I decided to go, for the free food if nothing else. They gave away door prizes. I thought about how that $20 Target gift card or basket of goodies would cheer me up for a little while at least. But one by one, they drew names and mine wasn't one of them. It came down to the last, biggest and best prize of all and they drew the name. I held my breath. I don't remember the name they called, but it wasn't mine. I released said breath and maybe even let out a sigh. But wait... "You must be present to win" and the person whose name they drew had cut out early. They drew again. I was so excited to hear my name, I didn't even mind that she called me "Eddie." The prize? A $50 gift card to Food Lion.

See, God is faithful to us even when we aren't always faithful to Him. Aren't you glad? If His faithfulness was equivalent to mine, I'd hate to see where I would be right now.

Maybe you're in a trying time and aren't quite sure how you're going to get through it. Maybe it's a financial crisis. Maybe it's a relationship issue. Maybe it's a decision you don't quite know how to make. Regardless, the Lord is always faithful. He knows just what you need when you need it. The Lord provides.