Chapter Seven: The Story Goes On

After God provided for my October school payment, I went to bed joyous over the love and faithfulness He had shown me. Each time I pondered His love, it brought me to tears. I could not even understand how He could be so good to me over and over again. It seemed to good to be true. Little did I know what He would do next.

I woke up the next morning at my normal time, ready for another day of school and more school. As I started preparing for my day, I noticed an envelope slipped under my door with my name on it. I picked it up, intrigued as to what it might be. I opened it and read the note inside, "From a [friend] who cares about your education..." I wondered what might be inside the envelope, so I opened it further and took a look. 

"No way! NO WAY! Oh my goodness! OH MY GOSH! What?"

My roommate looked up, wondering what I was freaking out about. "What? What's in it?"

"A hundred and fifty dollars!!!"

"What? No way!"

"I KNOW!"

For the one hundredth time, I was speechless at God's goodness to me. He had provided for me more times than I could count. It was no longer just a one time thing. It had become a pattern in my life. He had taught me over and over to trust Him, and when my trust started to falter He took my hand and gave me a gentle reminder of His faithfulness. 

Still, I am overwhelmed with gratitude to my heavenly Father whenever I think of how faithful He has been to me.

And it is still not easy to trust Him, when I don't have a plan B. Each time it takes more faith and dependence on Him. 

Still, I don't have a job. I've applied to many. I've even had many promising job interviews, but each time God closed the door. 

I still do not have enough money for my next school payment, but I trust that God will provide just enough money in just enough time. Because He cares for me. And He has called me out on the water to walk towards Him in faith.

But I'm kind of excited to see how He will provide for my next payment! Aren't you?

Chapter Six: Watch What I Can Do!

Chapter Six: Watch What I Can Do!

As October approached I began to get nervous about my next school payment. Now before I go on, let me explain what I mean by nervous. You see, God had been slowly growing my faith over the past few months. I no longer tried to provide for myself by myself. He had taught me to trust in Him. I no longer wondered if He could provide large chunks of money because I knew He could. He had taught me to trust in Him. I no longer wondered if He could provide money in enough time. I knew He could. He had taught me to trust Him. And I was no longer afraid that somehow it wasn't His will to provide money for me. I knew He had specifically called me to Moody Bible Institute for this season and He would provide the funds needed for that. He had taught me to trust in Him.

So I was not nervous that I had to work harder to make the money I needed. I was not nervous that God might not be able to provide enough money. I was not nervous that God might not be able to provide money in enough time. And I was not nervous that He didn't want to provide me money. God had taught me to have faith in all of those areas. It was a different kind of nervous.

You know when you watch a suspenseful movie sometimes. Whether it's an action movie or a thriller movie or just and intense scene, you often feel a certain kind of suspense as you watch the story unravel. It's not that you wonder if you favorite character will survive or if they will get the package, or if they will save the fair maiden or if they will slay the beast. In most cases you know that everything will turn out just fine. You know that your favorite character will conquer in the end. So you don't feel that suspense because you're scared about what might happen to them. Often, you feel the intensity because you just don't know how they will get there. You don't know how that character will make it from point A to point B. You don't know how much pain and suffering they might go to to get there. You don't know how long they will have to wait and fight to finally be victorious. You don't feel nervous because you wonder how the story will end. You feel nervous because you don't know how it will get there.

And that is the kind of nervousness I felt as I waited for God to provide the money for my school payment. I knew that He had it all worked out already. I knew that there was a happy ending. But as the deadline approached, I sat in suspense waiting to see how that would happen. 

Once again I was nervous I would go under my checking account limit and have to pay fees. I would be paying the last bit of money I had made working Camp and I didn't know if I had enough. 

"God, you're going to have to work this all out, you know. I don't have enough money for this. Once again, if you don't provide what I need, I have no plan B. I'm trusting you to make sure I don't go under the limit because I can't afford to pay any extra fees right now. Please provide for what I need. I know you are faithful and good and that you will take care of me."

And as I prayed this prayer over and over, I felt God telling me, "Just write the check and watch what I can do!"

So I did. One afternoon, I sat down on my bed, pulled out my checkbook and wrote the check out for the exact payment needed. I knew that even if I didn't have enough money in my account to stay above the $500, God would work it out somehow. What happened next left me speechless. 

As I balanced my checkbook, and added up the numbers I waited to see if I even had any money left. I did the math and wrote down the answer: $509. I had $509 left in my account. Just enough so that I didn't have to pay fees. I freaked out. 

"Oh my goodness! OH MY GOODNESS! Jesus, you are SO good! Thank you so much for providing for me over and over. You are more faithful to your people than I can even comprehend. Thank you!"

And once again, God had provided exactly what I needed. He is faithful!