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Listen, obey – don’t second guess!
A man shared this story with me and I thought it would help to illustrate the importance of following the Holy Spirit.
He was on a business trip and contacted some old friends he hadn’t seen in years. They picked him up for church and then invited him over for lunch. He spent several hours with them, enjoying their company and getting to know their three small children. (He loves kids!)
The following weekend, he was making plans to see them again. As he was getting ready, the Holy Spirit impressed on him to prepare to give them some money – $120 in cash. He wrestled with the idea. When he had visited them, they had seemed to be doing okay. Their house was nice, their children had toys and were dressed well. They didn’t appear to have any financial needs.
Especially as a man, he didn’t want to embarrass his friend by offering him the money and implying that he wasn’t a good provider for his family. He kept wondering, “Why do I feel this nudge to give them money? This doesn’t make any sense!”
But this man has walked with God for many years – so he knew better than to second guess. He put the cash in an envelope and prepared to give it to them at the right time. Even though he had no idea why.
He visited with them and just before he was ready to leave, he spoke to both the husband and wife together. He said, “I felt from the Lord that I was to give you this money. I’m not sure what you need it for – maybe for Christmas or something.” The couple politely thanked him and then his friend drove him back to his hotel.
As they drove, his friend told him what a HUGE blessing that money would be to them. He told him that just a few days before, he’d given his wife his last $40 to buy groceries for the week. He had put $10 of gas in her car and $3 in his, hoping to make it to the end of the week when his next paycheck would come. They had been able to meet their basic expenses like rent, electricity, gas, etc, but right now, they had no cash flow and things were very tight.
His unexpected cash gift was a BIG answer to prayer and came at just the right time!
Isn’t that cool? From the outside, they looked like any other family. The man had no idea they were in need. They never mentioned it to him. But thank God, he listened to the Holy Spirit, he obeyed and didn’t second guess himself. Not only did it increase his faith, it also increased theirs – God demonstrated Himself as their Provider without them saying a word to anyone! I love that! ❤
Have you ever had an experience like that? Please feel free to share it below. 🙂
Jehovah-Sneaky Strikes Again!
One of the elements of the unseen realm is the Favor or Blessing of God. Here’s a short story as an example.
A close friend of my husband had a grown daughter. She became very troubled mentally and ended up homeless after she lost her job. Her mother (our friend) drove across the country to find her and bring her home to live with her. The daughter was in her forties. The mother was retired and worked two part-time jobs to make ends meet.
She lived with her mother for two weeks. The mother worked hard to help her get the help she needed, but the story ended tragically. One morning the mother got up and looked for her daughter. She had hung herself from the tree in the corner of the yard. The police found evidence from receipts in her room that she had been planning this for at least a week.
We were shocked and dismayed. Our friend was beside herself. Family rallied around her. They had the body cremated and were planning to have a memorial service later that month. They even offered to chip in some money to help her have the tree removed. She couldn’t afford to pay for it herself. It was a large tree and would cost about $1000 or more to remove.
The week for the memorial came and the family all backed out. Suddenly no one wanted to have a memorial and they no longer offered their financial support in removing the tree. Our friend was crushed. She was miserable – you can imagine the pain she was experiencing. She gave up her hope that the tree could be removed – it would remain a daily reminder of her daughter’s tragic end. She couldn’t even bear to look in that direction of her yard when she let the dogs out.
My husband and I were upset that her family deserted her in a time like this. We discussed it and we both felt strongly that we were supposed to be “family” to her and help her. We gave her the money to cut down the tree. She cried when she realized what we were doing. It renewed her hope and she scheduled the tree removal immediately.
Five days later my husband got an unexpected check in the mail from a legal settlement that had been resolved years ago. The timing was impeccable. We had no idea this was coming. We gave $1000 and received $1155.46. No only were we “reimbursed” fully, we received 15% interest on our “investment” in human kindness! Isn’t that cool?
The check we received
I call that the Favor or Blessing of God. He moved our hearts to give and already supplied the check in the mail before we had even given the money away. He’s so sneaky like that! We call him Jehovah-Sneaky. 🙂
Do you have a story of God’s Favor or Blessing that you would like to share? Please feel free to post it in the comments! We love to hear these “God-incidences” (instead of co-incidences).
Lack is a LIE
The Lord has been really emphasizing to my heart that “Lack is a LIE!”
Jesus Christ has given us everything that pertains to life and godliness. He IS our Life. He is all that we need and He is our Provider.
The enemy uses deceptive strategies to get us to believe the lie of Lack. Like a magician’s illusion, we rely on what we see with our eyes and we become convinced that we lack.
But in Christ’s kingdom, there is no lack. He provides for all our needs.
Part of the enemy’s strategy is to get us to question whether or not God is a good provider. The question behind the strategy is always, “Is God really that good?”
If we give in to this doubt, then we believe the lie of lack and just like the law of attraction says, we will attract lack to our lives.
Lack is feeling alone, like no one cares. Lack is not having the resources you need (i.e. money to pay bills, the right job, etc.). Lack is feeling “less than” in your sense of self or in your relationships. There are so many areas where we can experience Lack.
But if we will turn to the Lord and say, “Lack is a Lie. I don’t believe it. Please show me where my provision is.” He will show us!
Many of us are familiar with the acronym for FEAR as False Evidence Appearing Real. Here’s one for LACK – Lying About Christ’s Kingdom.
When we focus on the lack and put our faith in its reality, then we are lying about Christ’s kingdom. We are saying there isn’t enough, God is not a good provider, I am all alone and no one cares about my lack.
We are NEVER alone, God is always providing what we need (maybe not always what we want, but always what we need) and there is always enough! God is always looking out for everything that concerns us. He cares for us like a good parent.
Ask the Lord to show you this personally. I’m just sharing what He has been saying to me … I hope it gives you courage to stand up to the lie. 🙂
Discernment of the Supernatural Realm 