the little things

It never ceases to amaze me, what an awesome and powerful God we serve. Even more awesome, is the fact that He loves us and calls us His children. He is a Father who really cares about us and every aspect of our lives. He cares so much that He went to the ultimate  extent and spared no expense to Redeem us, even while we didn’t deserve it or even want it.

I’m sure some, if not most, of you have, or have had, a good relationship with your Earthly father, who would do anything for you. Fathers will promise their children many things, because they love them so much. Most fathers, when they discover a secret desire their child has, will do what they can to make that dream come true and surprise the child with  their gift.

I am reminded of a time when my wife and I were being picked up, by a friend, to go to church. Earlier that day, we were watching a program on TV and a commercial for my wife’s favorite chocolates came on the screen. She didn’t say anything at the time but later she recalled that, in her mind, she said to herself that she would really like a piece of chocolate.

When our friend arrived to pick us up, her mom was in the front seat with her so we climbed into the back seat. On our way to church, our friends mom reached down, under the seat, and brought out a box of the exact chocolates that we saw on TV and opened the box and passed it over toward us and asked my wife if she would like one.

My wife broke into tears and explained to everyone how God was showing her how much He loves her by caring about something so little as a desire for chocolate, and not just any chocolate, but her favorite and He provided it in a way that we could never have planned. Praise God.

Another time, we had chosen to move to another city, about an hour away from where we were living. At the time, we were trying to find work but not having much success. I made the statement that I know I will be working as soon as we get there. 2 days before we moved, I got a call from a man who needed someone to drive a bus, for a few days, to chauffeur a rugby team around in the city we were moving to. In fact, I had to meet him the night we were moving so that I could get the keys for the bus and I started working the next morning.

It is awesome to have an all-powerful God, willing to do the miraculous, but I think it’s even more awesome to discover that this awesome God is interested in the mundane concerns of our everyday lives. It brings a whole new perspective into having a relationship with our Creator.

I know we have mentioned this many times but even seasoned Christians need a reminder, from time to time, and even more so, for those who have little, or no, relationship with God, that it is imperative that we spend time seeking and building a firm relationship with Him.

We mentioned, in a previous Blog, that we were led of the Spirit of God to buy a motor home and move from Saskatoon to Surrey because He had something for us but we, first, needed to position ourselves in a place where we could have access to it. At the time, our finances were not that great and God reminded us that He is our source and supply and as we proceed in the direction He is leading that He will take care of all our needs.

The main thing He told us is to look for Him in everything and in everyone we meet and He will reveal Himself and His purpose, for us, at that moment. God gave my wife a vision about the 2 of us standing on 2 small platforms that were shaped differently from one another and there was a 3rd platform in front of me. I stepped forward onto the empty platform and she stepped onto the one I had occupied. At this point, she turned and picked up the platform that she had been on and it changed shape, she handed it to me  and I placed it in front of me and stepped onto it.

This process kept repeating, every time we moved, the shapes would change and we realized that we could not put them back, once we picked them up. To us, this meant that God would lead our steps and we could never go back but must keep going forward and He will direct every step.

It is so important to stay in constant communication with Him, through prayer, reading His Word and Praising Him as well as just talking to Him regularly like you would any other traveling companion and, most importantly, listening to Him; because, He will talk to you. To illustrate this point, as we got close to our destination, our motor home totally broke down as we pulled into an industrial mall, where we expected to meet someone, in the ministry of God, whom we had met in Saskatoon.

It was 4:30 PM on Friday. We found their office was closed for the long weekend and would not open until Tuesday. We had run out of fuel, as well as money, and the battery had died, also it was going to get close to freezing overnight. As we were about to panic we decided to pray, and God reminded us to look for Him in everything and everyone, so I went for a walk to see if there were any options available. It happened that there was a coffee shop, next door to the office, and it was still open.

We had just enough money for 2 cups of coffee and, as we sat there, the owner asked if we wanted anything. We told him we had no money but we asked if we could bring our battery and charger inside and plug it in so it could charge. He agreed to this and while it was charging we had an opportunity to tell him our story.

He told us that he makes pizzas, in the back, that he sells to stores, and offered us one (knowing we had no money). He showed us a menu and said to pick any size and any topping and then turned and waved his arm in the direction of a wall of coolers, loaded with all sorts of refreshments, and told us to pick anything we want. We were so overwhelmed by his generosity, especially since he was not a Christian, but practiced hinduism (revealed to us by various statues and posters in the place).

When the man did this, my wife saw a vision of Jesus, extending His arms and saying, “Come and eat, without money”. This was exactly what He said, to the Children of Israel, several thousands of years ago, as recorded in the Old Testament:

Isaiah 55:1 (The Message Bible)
[ Buy Without Money ] “Hey there! All who are thirsty, come to the water! Are you penniless? Come anyway—buy and eat! Come, buy your drinks, buy wine and milk. Buy without money—everything’s free! Why do you spend your money on junk food, your hard-earned cash on cotton candy? Listen to me, listen well: Eat only the best, fill yourself with only the finest. Pay attention, come close now, listen carefully to my life-giving, life-nourishing words. I’m making a lasting covenant commitment with you, the same that I made with David: sure, solid, enduring love. I set him up as a witness to the nations, made him a prince and leader of the nations, And now I’m doing it to you: You’ll summon nations you’ve never heard of, and nations who’ve never heard of you will come running to you Because of me, your God, because The Holy of Israel has honored you.”

We graciously accepted his generous offer, and enjoyed a marvelous dinner, while our battery was being charged.

After the battery was charged, and I was able to start the engine, I discovered that we were out of fuel. When I got back inside, he asked if it worked and I said it did but now we are out of fuel, without hesitation, he reached in the till and took out a $10 bill and told one or his workers to take me to the gas station and fill our Jerry can. When we got back and the motor home was running, he told us that, when they close, we can use the power cord he had attached to his outside mobile sign and plug it into the motor home so that our furnace could run, without using fuel, and we could stay there until Tuesday morning.

How awesome is our God, to use this man to meet our needs. Praise His name.