Wait... that's MY Monday. But, I do pray for you all to share this new Monday with me! God is at work in our lives in such a huge way. Let me explain.
You know we've been in a bad place financially lately. We've been desperate. We've been begging God for a miracle. What we weren't doing was WATCHING that miracle unfold. He didn't drop $x.xx in our laps, like we WANTED Him to. Instead, little by little, He provided over time and helped us to sell some things that has helped us to be almost completely caught up. We still need to pay the rent, which is due today, but He blessed us with Godly and understanding landlords, and we'll pay it a couple of days late with a nice large check with tons of OT on it. As of this Thursday, unless God decides to intervene with our pay check and stop it short (and if He does, that's ok-we'll trust Him) then we will be completely caught up. Not ahead, nothing in savings yet, but we'll be caught up. At this point, we should be homeless, without electricity, water, phone, etc. But we're not. We're without NOTHING.
My husband and I have not had a date in probably close to a year now. We didn't even get to go out for our anniversary last year because my husband was working out of town. Our 5th anniversary is coming up on Oct 5. But, since we moved to Florida, we've drawn closer to one another, and have been DESPERATE for a date night. We NEED time alone, sans kids, to TALK, and laugh, and flirt, and enjoy the one we've chosen to spend forever with. But, we have only been able to pour everything coming in into bills and groceries. Nothing extra. We don't have anyone to keep the kids, so we will need to find someone, and will have to PAY them. Just last night, I kid you not, we were trying to carry a conversation at the dinner table and kept getting interrupted by kids. I looked at him and said "I REALLY need a date. I need to have a conversation with my husband that doesn't stop and start 5 million times before I complete one sentence". He concurred. This morning, I received a call from a friend. She asked for my Paypal address, and said that God wanted her to send some money to us, and to use it to somehow bless our marriage. THAT, my friends, is God hearing the cry of my heart even though I didn't speak it to Him from my lips. Now, you keep in mind that this friend is certainly not wealthy. Like us, they survive paycheck to paycheck, and have even undergone an INSANE amount of unexpected expenses lately. But she wants to follow God's lead. I'm so humbled by her generosity, and God's provision. We have enough to go on a nice date now :) I'm so happy I could burst!
Why? Because all along God has been working miracles. We just couldn't see them through the torrential downpour. Now, here we stand, staring in awe at the rainbow. God's promise that He was with us all along, and that He will be with us always. That He will love us and provide for us no matter how bad it seems. The rainbow that is simply God's message to us: "I love you with an everlasting love". THAT invokes peace that is indescribable. He loves us :)
I just needed to share this with you today. God's building my faith like never before. Not because everything is perfect and He's giving me things. Even before this morning's phone call, I was staring at the rainbow and realizing that He *IS* giving us the miracle we're praying for. Just not in the earthquake, or the fire. He is giving it to us in the gentle whisper. And I'm so thankful for that gentle whisper.
1 Kings 19:1-12 NLT
1 When Ahab got home, he told Jezebel everything Elijah had done, including the way he had killed all the prophets of Baal. 2 So Jezebel sent this message to Elijah: “May the gods strike me and even kill me if by this time tomorrow I have not killed you just as you killed them.”
3 Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there. 4 Then he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died.”
5 Then he lay down and slept under the broom tree. But as he was sleeping, an angel touched him and told him, “Get up and eat!” 6 He looked around and there beside his head was some bread baked on hot stones and a jar of water! So he ate and drank and lay down again.
7 Then the angel of the Lord came again and touched him and said, “Get up and eat some more, or the journey ahead will be too much for you.”
8 So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai, the mountain of God.9 There he came to a cave, where he spent the night.
But the Lord said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 Elijah replied, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”
11 “Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” the Lord told him. And as Elijah stood there, the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper.
13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.
And a voice said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
Please take time to listen for His gentle whisper. You have to listen closely or you will miss it.
Jeremiah 31:3 NLT
I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love.
With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.
I love the gentle whisper ... my blog was about how God was a gentle mist, and not a storm ... He moves in ways that saturate me with blessing, not in ways I need to find protection from. HE is SO GOOD!
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