A few years ago, I felt differently. One afternoon she called me, proclaiming the goodness of our Lord in a mistake that was made in her JC Penny order. Instead of shipping her curtain X (her choice), curtain Y arrived in the mail. She called the company, notifying them of their error. They let her know that she could either keep Y (for the price of X) or ship it back and they would replace it.
My mother hung the curtains and decided she liked these curtains better than the ones she had ordered. "God took care of me," she claimed.
"Seriously Mother? What makes you think that God gives a rip about what kind of curtains you have hanging in your house?"
I don't think I realized how much hurt my words carried. No one in my family is secretive about our struggle with confidence, self worth, and anxiety. Yet my mother had finally gotten to a point in her life where she believe God loved her so much, that He sent a keying error to a customer service rep in order to bring a smile to her face.
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17
Now I'm not going to argue in favor of JC Penny having "perfect" curtains, but I do believe God wants our praise. I also think he proves himself faithful in the little things sometimes to give us the courage to trust him in the big things.
When I worried that I would run alone during the Knoxville Marathon training runs, Lisa prayed God would send her someone who ran the same pace as her. He answered her prayer, by sending her me. Even in my sinful state (let's just be honest that worry is not only a sin, but denial of God's power and authority), God used me to answer prayer.
Having not learned my lesson, I recently began worrying about finding a safe place to ride my bike while preparing for my upcoming triathlon. Never did it cross my mind to pray about it, after all - God doesn't care about silly things like my training schedule, or so I thought. Until I woke up Saturday morning with the perfect place in mind.
This perfect spot isn't anywhere I dreamed up. As a matter of fact, it hadn't even crossed my mind. Until it hit me that morning. I could say it was "out of no where" but I don't think that's an accurate statement. The perfect subdivision came like a slap across the face from heaven "trust me, I've got this," the slap said.
Casting all your care on him; for he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7
I'm currently dealing with much bigger things in my life than simply training concerns (and promise to blog about them shortly), and I desperately needed this reminder, this assurance He's up there watching out for me.
I don't claim to know why some go to bed hungry each night, yet my mother gets sent curtains from God. I don't know why I get the medicine I need to heal me, while others die of their disease. I do, however, celebrate the God of the Universe who sent his son to rescue the perishing. I celebrate the God has promised to meet all of our needs. I celebrate the God of fashionable curtains, because he seeks after his lambs so that he may bring them back to him.
I'd love for you to share one way God has tangibly shown his love for you.
I love this post! (I also love this new spot)
ReplyDeleteWe have been through many months of our daughters unemployment, which is hard enough on its own, but worse because of her diabetes. Yet - God has taken care of her in having people give her test strips they don't need, that work for her machine, insulin that would be thrown away, and recently a bunch of supplies for her pump that showed up in a cabinet we use frequently, but is never used to store those kind of things. He does care for us!
I continue to remember her in prayer. So amazing how He finds little ways like that to provide. And the supplies in the cabinet? How awesome!!
DeleteThere are so many! The thing that stands out right now is when my husband & his business partner sold their partnership & were put on staff with the company who bought them out. 5 months later, he was diagnosed with cancer. It was 100% out of the blue for us, but we know 100% for sure that God had His hand in the whole thing. Before that, we were barely making ends meet & our insurance had a HUGE deductible. With the new job, the deductible was much less (& with scans, we normally hit that & more within the first couple weeks of the year). Though we have still had quite a bit of medical expenses, I can only imagine how much we would've had with our old insurance.
ReplyDeleteYou know what I find incredible? Depite his illness, you still see God's hand working in your life. What an incredible testimony!
DeleteHe loves to give good gifts to His kids...just sayin'
ReplyDelete:-)
LOVE this post!
Greatpost. I fall into this so often, I go to God for the big things, but forget about approaching Him in the small things.
ReplyDeleteGod knew how much I was missing my boy so HE worked it out so I was surprised by his visit home! Yes, God does care about the small things. We always seem to forget that!
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