#ThailandTuesday: God's Provision

First, I want to say that THIS IS MY LAST #THAILANDTUESDAY IN THE STATES!!! Next Tuesday I will actually be in Thailand!

Second, I've been thinking a lot this past week about various ways I have seen God provide in extravagant ways. Up until several years ago, I never really found myself needing to trust God to provide. I knew He was providing, but it came mostly through my parents. But there comes a point (hopefully) when parents help you depend less and less on them in that area.

The first time I experienced this was a mission trip I took my last year at Baylor. This was the first time I remember my parents saying about something this big, "You can do this, but we aren't going to bail you out." That was good for me because it meant that I had to trust God to bail me out. That semester I encountered amazing provision (some of that probably coming from people reading this blog!). My favorite story, though, was after I had reached my goal I had this desire to get a little extra cash for things I wanted to take on the tip and for souvenirs. So I prayed. I just asked God to provide about $250 for me to get these things. No joke, the next morning I got a call about 7:30 am from our Director of Bands at Baylor asking me if I would be interested in going to Abilene Christian University to play the contrabassoon (if you don't know what that is, please do yourself a favor and look it up) for a concert. They were going to pay me, you guessed it, $250. Not only did God provide, but he did it in a fun way- I was invited to go do something I loved. It was above and beyond anything I expected.

Another fun story was when I was doing my discipleship training school. I had tuition due for the school that I did not have. I started to pray and ask God what He would have me do for this. His answer? He wanted me to watch Him provide and trust Him. To me this is a key part in the process of trusting God for provision. Not only do we trust that He will provide, but we partner with Him to see what part we are to play in the provision. The Old Testament is filled with stories of battles that the Israelites one. We look at those stories and see how God delivered them in amazing ways. But if you notice, God also gave them very specific instructions each time.

Walk around this wall...

Hold up your arms...

Take the loot...

Don't take the loot...

Take only 300 men...

God miraculously won the battle each time, but He didn't just ask His people to sit back and watch Him do it. He invited them into the process and each time His instructions looked a little different. Why? I think because He was testing their obedience and faith.

Sometimes God opens doors of provision for us through jobs. Other times He might use people. And other times it just seems nearly impossible how it happened. The important thing is asking Him what part you are to play. During the training school I did not want to assume that God's provision would look the way I thought it would. Once I prayed, I got a strong sense that this was a time where I was supposed to just wait on Him. I thought at times, should I get another job? sell some stuff? anything? But I kept sensing that God wanted me to wait this time and stand in faith. And do you know what happened? A week or so before the deadline it was announced in front of our class that someone had anonymously donated $3,000 to me which covered the rest of my tuition AND part of my spring outreach. It was incredible and such a testament.

I think what I love about those stories is that there was a process of connecting with God each time. Standing on the promise of God each time boosts my faith and makes me depend on Him more and more. Imagine if I just knew God would magically provide everything like a genie. I wouldn't need to reach out to Him for any of my needs, I would just know it would be there. He promises provision and to do above and beyond what we can ask or think. But we so miss out on an amazing encounter with God if we don't take the time to seek Him through the process to see what our part is to play in that.

Hopefully my stories boost your faith. I also want to say that as of yesterday I have reached my financial goal that we set for before I leave!! This is amazing!! Thank you everyone for your prayers and support. I do still have a little bit to raise once I'm there so if you ever wonder if you can still give, the answer is absolutely yes.

Until the next #ThailandTuesday that will actually be from Thailand...