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Archive for the ‘God’s Provision’ Category

“Not Yet”

Posted in Devotional, God's Faithfulness, God's Provision, Healing on March 29, 2011| Leave a Comment »

On a personal note:

This time last week I was preparing to meet my Maker. Let me be honest and share something personal with you. When I went for my yearly mammogram a few weeks ago, I had that inward ‘knowing’ that it would not come back normal. It didn’t. But that was the least of my concerns.

I had been having headaches for a few weeks, but a few days after the mammogram, it turned into a constant, agonizing pain towards the middle of my head, right side. Even a pain killer would not alleviate its intensity. I wasn’t too concerned at first. But the headache got worse –and my lymph nodes swelled on the right side. I thought about seeing my physician but the weekend was fast approaching and it is difficult to be seen then. Plus, I wanted to have the second, diagnostic mammogram done before I saw him, so I waited. That proved to be an unwise decision.

Even so, I was at total peace. I wasn’t sure if the suspect mammogram had anything to do with the pain issue, but either way I knew something was seriously wrong. I’ve been through some really difficult health challenges before, but I had never experienced anything like this. I absolutely know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God heals (I have experienced His miraculous healing many times) and I usually stand in faith believing for it. This time, however, I had that same inner ‘knowing’ that I was going to go through something very difficult and there would be a purpose in it.

It occurred to me that IF I had breast cancer and IF that was related to the splitting head pain and swollen lymph nodes, it would probably mean that I would be going home to be with my Lord rather quickly. I prayed, “Lord that is entirely up to you –whatever you desire. My children are almost grown and I am ready to go home whenever you are ready for me.” It’s not that I wanted to leave my family, but I wasn’t afraid to either.

The day before my diagnostic mammogram/sonogram (Sunday), I laid on the couch making a mental note of the things I needed to wrap-up just in case. Let me stress again, I was completely at peace. Even the thought of a mastectomy didn’t bother me. And I knew that even if God called me home (and I honestly believed He might), He would certainly take care of my family. This is what comes of knowing that your relationship with Jesus Christ is right and your future with Him is secure. However, as I was thinking about all the things that I needed to hurriedly finish, the voice of the Lord spoke very clearly to me. He simply said, “Not Yet.” That’s all — just a quiet, reassuring, “Not Yet.”

Okay, so it wasn’t my time to go, yet my symptoms were getting worse. Bright and early Monday morning I called for an emergency appointment. The pain was still severe, and I had developed several more symptoms. These included, but were not limited to, blurred vision and nausea. My whole body hurt and by this point it even hurt to touch my skin.

I couldn’t even drive myself to the doctor. Normally it would have been easy to find someone to help out, but on that particular morning I couldn’t. I thought, I’ll just have to drive myself, but then I heard the Lord speak with stern rebuke, “Absolutely not! You cannot drive!” So, I called my husband away from his work to come get me. He wasn’t close to home and he was in the middle of an important job, but he was able to get me to my appointment on time. I know the Lord was looking out for me.

Long story short: I do NOT have breast cancer and the other issue I was having, while rather severe, was completely treatable. Between the potent medication and the prayer offered on my behalf, I felt like a new person within twenty-four hours of seeing my physician and continued to improve daily. It only took three or four days to feel normal again.

This is all very personal, so why am I sharing all of this with you? There are at least three thoughts I want to offer today which I truly pray brings hope and/or comfort to someone.

1) God does speak to His children. Whether He speaks to our hearts, or through His word, He will instruct us in regards to our individual lives if we take time to listen. And, in knowing that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose (Romans 8:28), we can face every challenge with absolute peace and full assurance that God is in control so we don’t have to be.

2) There is an appointed time for a person to die. —To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die… (Ecclesiastes 3:1 -2a). If it is not our time to go, we won’t. Therefore, we don’t need to worry when we face rather serious illness or disease if we put our trust in God because He IS in control.

3) Even if it is our time to pass from this world into eternity, we can face death with perfect peace, knowing that we needn’t worry or fear so long as our relationship is right with the Lord Jesus Christ. You (O Lord) will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You (Isaiah 26:3 NKJV) –even unto death

In closing, let me say that I did go through a very difficult and painful ordeal. But true to His word, God used the situation to accomplish something important. For the sake of another’s privacy, I won’t share the details, but suffice it to say that the Lord God used my situation for that person’s benefit. I don’t believe that God puts sickness and disease on His children –He is too loving of a Father for that – but I wholeheartedly believe that He finds opportunity to prove His love through every circumstance of life. Furthermore, every trial you face is just another opportunity for you to see that love.

I have several friends, strong of faith, who are currently enduring difficult physical battles and I see in them the same peace and assurance I experienced –that peace which comes from knowing that God is in control. On the flip side, I have seen several folks who do not know Jesus as Lord, suffer through much anguish and fear through their infirmities.

Let me assure you, God cares about you and He cares about your health. It hurts His heart to see you suffering or hurting no matter who you are. If you don’t know Jesus Christ as Savior, and have never felt His peace, He is just a prayer away. Call out to Him and He will reach down to you.

Postscript: This is my second abnormal mammogram, but I was miraculously healed the first time. You can read about it here:
There’s Nothing There?

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Sinkable? Unthinkable!

Posted in Devotional, God's Faithfulness, God's Provision, Obedience, Servanthood, Titanic on March 24, 2011| 1 Comment »

Is there any greater tragedy than the loss of human life, especially if that loss could have been prevented? Let’s revisit history for a moment.

The magnificent, “unsinkable” Titanic, the world’s largest passenger steamship of its time, quickly sank into the icy waters of the Atlantic on April 15th, 1912 after its encounter with an iceberg. More than fifteen-hundred lives were lost including those of innocent children. The scars of this devastation were only deepened when it was made known that so many of those lives could have been spared.

Several mistakes had been made, all of which contributed to the profusion of death and destruction –any one of which could have been easily corrected. For example, there weren’t enough lifeboats to accommodate all the people on board, and those lifeboats that were employed were not filled to capacity. There has been a lot written about those various mistakes and what could have –should have– been done differently, but I would prefer to focus for a moment on the heroes instead.

We may not be familiar with their names, but there were many people aboard Titanic that gave their lives in order that others might be saved. The men in the engine room, for example, never abandoned their posts; they worked feverishly to keep the ship afloat as long as possible and keep the lights on so others could find their way to safety.

That is a rather good picture of the church. We’ve seen the news. Our world is being ravaged by turmoil, famine, pestilence and war. These devastations are sweeping over every continent like a tsunami, and people are beginning to drown in the despair of it all. It is our duty, therefore, to keep working till Jesus returns (Luke 19:13) and to keep the gospel light burning in order to give direction to those who are perishing.

According to survivor reports, there was a minister aboard the Titanic who gave his life doing exactly that. After placing his daughter in a lifeboat and saying his final goodbye, Reverend John Harper returned to deck helping “Women, children and unsaved into the lifeboats!”

Even in his final moments of life, he continued to do God’s work. Once in the icy waters, Reverend Harper swam from person to person searching for the unsaved so that he might lead them to Jesus. His last words before sinking into the ocean’s depths –he had given his life vest to another—was “Believe on the Name of the Lord Jesus and you will be saved!”

A few years ago, our local science and exploration center hosted a Titanic exhibition. Hollywood may have capitalized on the untimely demise of fifteen-hundred people, but the exhibition humanized it. Until then, it was easy for me to think of the sunken Titanic as just another heart-breaking historical event. But when I placed my hand on the display wall which had been cooled to the temperature of the icy Atlantic waters into which the terrified passengers were plunged, the whole catastrophe became more real to me. I was then able to view the various other displays from an entirely different perspective.

The personal belongings exhibits, for example, were very sobering. The ship’s victims were not just statistics; they were real people. Beyond that, the immeasurable loss of human life seemed all the more grievous when viewing the actual photographs of several passengers. Putting faces to the names of those who died, especially, made everything more relevant.

I thought about the survivors too. How many of these people carried the burden of guilt to their graves? Yes, mistakes were made. But rather than pointing fingers of blame, we should instead learn from those mistakes and not repeat them.

Most of Titanic’s mistakes were made only because it was believed by the vast majority that the Titanic was completely unsinkable. Likewise, many people today think that regardless of isolated global disasters, the world as we know it will never be destroyed. The body of Christ knows better. Scripture foretells what will befall this earth; and we know the destiny of those who do not accept Jesus as their Messiah when it does. These people are, as one old hymn says, “sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore –very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more….”

I ask you again, is there any greater tragedy than the loss of human life, especially if that loss could have been prevented? Absolutely not! To stand-by and let someone perish without trying to save them is unthinkable. I pray that we, the Body of Christ, never become apathetic to the plight of those who are lost.

Like Reverend Harper, we must be diligently about the Father’s business until the very end. The world learned of the Reverend’s unfailing devotion from the testimony of a Titanic survivor. He was floating atop debris when the Reverend swam up to him and asked if he was saved. Not only did the young man reply ‘no,’ he refused the offer of salvation. Reverend Harper then removed his life vest and gave it to the young man. “Then you need this more than I,” he said, and swam to the next person.

Shortly before he sank to his watery grave, the reverend swam back to this young man and offered him one last chance to receive Jesus Christ as his Savior. Deeply touched by Reverend Harper’s act of compassion, the young man softened his heart and accepted Jesus. Of the fifteen-hundred people that went into the icy water, only six were rescued; he was one of them.

I can only imagine how that man must’ve felt the first time he heard the words to the aforementioned hymn, “….But the master of the sea heard my despairing cry, from the waters lifted me, now safe am I. Love lifted me… When nothing else could help, love lifted me.”

I wonder, is it possible that after such a miraculous rescue the man’s faith was sinkable? Unthinkable!

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Sour Lemonade

Posted in Contentment, Devotional, Endurance, God's Faithfulness, God's Provision on March 10, 2011| 2 Comments »

photo credit: Joell Ortiz

When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!” Hats off to the clever optimist that first coined that phrase, but I think he forgot something. If you don’t put any sugar in that lemonade it is going to be unbearably sour –what’s the benefit in that? And as we all know, life seldom hands you lemons and sugar at the same time.

Take Tuesday morning for example. I woke up with all those flu-like symptoms that lets you know life will be on hold for the next twenty-four hours or so; no getting out of bed. Then the first call came. “Mom, I’m sick and I have a fever. You need to come get me.”

A short time later my husband called. “Are you sitting down?” he asked. (Don’t you just love phone calls that start like that?) After he told me the reason for his call I felt even sicker. “The car’s ready to be picked up” he said, “but it’s going to cost more than we thought. The bill is one-thousand dollars.” Who would’ve guessed that the car would’ve cracked its head gasket at the same time we were having fifteen-hundred dollars worth of repairs done on the van. Oh well, the car would have to be picked up later, I thought as I crawled back into bed.

My son and I both spent most of the day in one of those deep, illness-induced sleeps so I didn’t have much time to think about all those sour lemons, not that I really wanted to anyway. After several hours I moved out to the couch awaiting my husband’s return. I figured he would want to discuss the household needs for that evening if nothing else, but he didn’t. He simply cared for me then gingerly kissed my forehead. Feeling quite loved at that moment, I drifted off to sleep knowing that he would take care of everything.

Then, a few hours later, I awakened to the sounds of my beloved in the kitchen making dinner. And this was after picking up the car, chauffeuring kids and running a few errands. I figured he would be stressed at best and probably even moody and irritable. But there he was joyfully humming. I strained to hear the tune. Yes, he was definitely humming Be Thou My Vision.

This beautiful Irish hymn was written in the eighth century and later versified in 1905 by Eleanor Hull. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with this touching song, the words are as follows:

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

His humming was comforting so I put on some music and lay immersed in the lyrics of beautiful hymns. Some of them, like Be Thou My Vision, focused on God himself, others focused on His Word. My body wasn’t healed that very moment but I felt greatly strengthened because:

Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. (Proverbs 16:24)

Scripture also says: How sweet are your words (Lord) to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth (Psalm 119:103)

This explains why my husband was joyful and at peace even in the midst of sickness and financial burden. We had been given some pretty sour lemons that day, but he knew that our heavenly Father loved us and that He would take care of everything –and that my friend, is sweet!

Bryan had chosen to turn our lemons into lemonade. That is to say, he made the decision to ensure the expensive repairs were all made so that his family would have safe, dependable vehicles to drive. Then he sweetened that lemonade by focusing his thoughts on the Lord –allowing Him to be his best thought by day or by night. And I’m sure, my husband rested in God’s comforting promise to supply all our needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).

What about you? Has your lemonade been sour lately? Remember, if you drink sour lemonade –you’ll wear a sour expression. Just a little food drink for thought.

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Snipe Hype

Posted in Devotional, Emotinal Pain, Endurance, God's Provision on November 5, 2010| 5 Comments »


Being the new kid, I was thrilled with the invitation to go snipe hunting. My parents never let me do anything so it was out of the question, but I was chomping at the bit to go. For once in my life someone wanted to include me in the fun and frankly, I was miffed that I didn’t get to indulge in the adventure.

Just in case you happen to be wondering what in the world a snipe is I will explain, although I am probably breaking some sort of backwoods code of silence. There are two species of snipe. The first is a small, long-billed bird that lives in the marshes. The second type of snipe is a small nocturnal creature that lives only in deeply wooded areas; they are extremely elusive and nearly impossible to catch.

Now let me tell you what the latter type of snipe is not. A backwoods snipe is not real. This fictitious creature is a decoy meant to lure an unsuspecting dupe into humiliation and ridicule.

For high-schoolers, snipe hunting works something like this: The really “cool” kids seek out the “nerdiest” or loneliest introvert in the school and pretend to take an interest. A short time later, they ask this “reject” to go snipe hunting; banking on the fact that he or she will jump at the chance to be included. Then on a cold, dark night, the whole snipe-hunting party drives to a remote location and walks deep into the woods.

Once there, the naïve chump is given a gunnysack or pillowcase and a stick to aid in the capture. “By the way, you are far more likely to catch a snipe if you give them a snipe call,” you are told. “It sounds something like this….” Of course their victim will sound like an idiot making that call, but it’s all part of the humiliation.

The group breaks up at this point because it is “easier to catch a snipe like that.” I probably don’t have to tell you what happens next- the poor dupe is left alone in the woods and the others drive off. How long he or she is left in the woods is entirely up to the coolest of the cool.

In retrospect, I am certainly grateful that I didn’t go along on that snipe hunt; I had already endured enough arrows of humiliation back then as it was. I only wish others could escape the beguilement but sadly, innocent recruits are still being gulled into snipe hunting to this very day.

If this were just some harmless prank it would probably be more copacetic but in reality, the demoralizing outcome is not harmless at all. The culprits, motivated by malice, are intent on victimizing those who are already weak and insecure. This really angers me.

What angers me more is that all of humanity has a very real enemy out there with a similar, but infinitely more destructive agenda. Scripture says that your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. (I Peter 5:8)

The devil, otherwise known as Satan, often employs tactics similar to those of a snipe hunt. He too seeks out those individuals who are completely ignorant of his schemes or their consequences. And more often than not, he chooses fragile souls who are weak and insecure or those who are emotionally wounded already.

He then lures them into his web of deceit- usually through the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (also spoken of in Scripture). Unaware that they have just become the devil’s pawn, these eager victims initially enjoy the thrills of pleasure-hunting. If only they can nab that evasive creature called happiness, the end result, they reason, will be self-fulfillment and acceptance.

Satan knows, however, that mankind can only find true happiness through communion with God, his Creator. So, he carefully maneuvers his pawns into a cold dark place far away from God until the reality sets in that the pleasures of this world were only decoys. By then, the fragile souls are demoralized and buy into the lie that they have made an insurmountable mistake and are quite alone in it.

The enemy has worked this same plan of deception from the dawn of time; the wisest man who ever lived, according to the biblical account, fell victim to this same pleasure-hunting deception. He wrote:

I denied myself nothing my eyes desired;
I refused my heart no pleasure.
and this was the reward for all my toil.
Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done
and what I had toiled to achieve,
everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind;
nothing was gained under the sun.
(Ecclesiastes 2:10-11)

Perhaps you, dear reader have felt like you have been on a hunt for happiness and still feel like your gunnysack is empty. Moreover, you might feel like you have been standing alone in an emotional darkness, calling out to no avail. Notice, Scripture says the devil seeks those who he [may] devour; if you are in God’s hands, he is unable to.

Furthermore, Jesus spoke in Scripture saying Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:28, 29 KJV)

In addition to rest, God wants to give you every good thing; not the temporal things of this world that are fleeting and do not really satisfy, but those things which bring true fulfillment and true happiness.

Whether you are in relationship with your heavenly Father or not, please watch this video and take its words to heart. It is my sincere prayer that you do not leave this blog site empty-handed. If nothing else, take with you the knowledge that Jesus loves you too much to leave you alone.


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When Light Eclipses Darkness

Posted in Devotional, Emotinal Pain, Emotional Healing, God's Provision on August 11, 2010| 3 Comments »

Driving home from the hospital yesterday evening, I was greeted by the brightest sunset I have ever seen. It is as though God’s glory stood in bold defiance to the darkness that has pervaded the lives of too many friends this week. Two have lost a loved one suddenly and unexpectedly; the first to a car crash and the second to a heart attack. One is in the hospital recovering from a very serious and difficult surgery, a few have lost jobs and several others are facing various other struggles -difficult ones.

Though my eyes were still quite sensitive from a long-lasting migraine, I couldn’t help but gaze repeatedly towards the brightness of that beautiful sunset. Whenever light so brazenly eclipses the surrounding darkness, it just seems to proclaim a message of hope. I thought of the friend I had just left.

“You look wonderful,” I had assured her with all honesty. She smiled. “Only because God has been so good to me!” she replied warmly. Without divulging any of her personal information, let me just say that my friend is really going through quite an affliction – one that would cause most people to crumble beneath its weight. She, on the other hand, remains filled with the kind of deep inner peace that defies all logic.

For ten minutes, she joyfully shared with me the numerous ways which God has provided for her during this time of great need, as well as the opportunities she has had to share this testimony with others. Then, with an unexpected brightness in her eyes, she proclaimed: “I can never express how much goodness and mercy God has shown me during these last few months. Now I understand, more than ever, how much He loves me. I am truly, unconditionally loved! God loves me – not because of anything I have done, not because I am deserving –He loves me JUST BECAUSE!” Lightly tapping her forehead she said, “I’ve always known it here,” but because of everything I have been through lately,” she finished with her fingertips at her heart, “now I know it here.”

I had come to the hospital to encourage my friend in her time of need, but God had already strengthened her spirit in a way that no man is able. “God is in complete control,” she said, “so I’m not worried or stressed. I can just rest in my Father’s arms while he takes care of everything.” That is just where I left her, resting in her Father’s arms. She has a long way to go, but a brilliant light has shone through her darkness and I am certain she will prevail over this affliction stronger than ever.

As I drove, I continued to pray for my other friends as well, especially those who have suffered such grievous losses. They too need the kind of peace which passes all understanding. Again I looked at the sunset. The sun appeared low to the ground and completely full. Its middle was covered by the dark clouds of evening, but even they could not diminish its brilliance. Above the clouds, wide rays of light stretched in every direction. The biggest of these spotlighted a large swath of sky, bathing it in mid-afternoon brightness.

“My dear friends,” I thought, “dark clouds may have covered you for now. And they may be telling you that it will be night for a very long time, but there is a light which pierces through every darkness we face; it is the goodness and mercy of God.”

I wish I could have photographed that sunset and showed it to those who were grieving. If only they could have seen how the sun’s beams literally split the darkened sky and shone through in every direction, and sensed in their hearts what I did at that very moment, it might have helped ease their grief at least a little. We cannot stop darkness from overshadowing us at times any more than we can stop night from arriving. But as surely as the sun rises to meet each new day, God’s mercies are new every morning! We have His word for that.

It is of the LORD’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. – Lamentations 3:22-24

The burdens of this world are just too great for us to bear alone. We may face many “dark nights” but God’s love will pierce the darkness and give us hope and peace. And when we are too grief-stricken or too weary to make it through on our own, He wraps His loving arms around and helps us through step–by-step, carrying us if need be.

Why? Because He loves us. He loves us not because of anything we have done, nor because we are deserving –He loves us JUST BECAUSE!”

 

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But God said, NO!

Posted in Contentment, Devotional, God's Provision on June 24, 2010| 2 Comments »


“Don’t make a mountain out of a molehill.” Well here in this little corner of the Midwest we have to, as far as the terrain is concerned anyway; It’s the closest thing to elevation that we have. Well almost…

My husband and I feel confident that we are living in the place which God has chosen for us, and are fairly settled. But if we had our druthers, we would be living on some mountain ridge. Or at the very least, on a small country farm somewhere in God’s country. By the way, if you don’t know what druthers are, you need to get out of the city for awhile and experience a little country life.

I often awake from pleasant dreams in which my family and I are living in such a place. Then the reality hits me; Nope, we’re still here in these allergy-inducing, scorched flatlands. Most of the time we are content enough to live here. Still, there have been several times throughout the years that we have all but begged God to let us relocate to an area more suited to our nature-loving genes and our manure-wading boots. And every single time, God said No.

Last night I couldn’t help but think about all the incredible things that God is doing in our lives right now -here in this place. I couldn’t even begin to list them all. Then it dawned on me, how many of these blessings would we have missed out on if we had gotten our way and moved? We may have thought at times that we would find more happiness elsewhere, but fortunately for us, God knows what we need and where He needs us, even more than we do and He always makes provision for that.

This realization led me to ponder some of the other times when God answered our prayers for other things with the same unyielding, “No.” I might not always have liked the answer, nor understood it, but I am now fully persuaded that His answers were always in our best interest whether we realized it or not.

Then, God clearly spoke to my heart. He said, “If you think I told you No a lot, you should see how many times I told the devil No. There were so many times he tried to trick you and deceive you, but I said NO! He tried to bring certain sicknesses and diseases upon you but I said NO! He even tried to take your lives but I said NO!”

My mind began to whir with memories of the car accidents we were in and the ones we narrowly escaped. I thought about several other times when I, personally, should have died but walked away unscathed. God has kept us safe through all of this and so much more. He healed us from that which the doctors couldn’t. And when we teetered on the brink of financial ruin, He miraculously provided. I cannot begin to imagine how many times God protected us and provided for us when we didn’t even know the need existed.

The devil has tried endlessly to bring harm to my family and I, but God repeatedly said NO! I don’t know about you, but right about now I feel like shouting for joy. Go ahead, ask me if I ever tire of talking about God and His amazing love. I will most emphatically tell you NO!

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Thirty-Five Dollars and Banana Bread

Posted in Devotional, God's Goodness, God's Provision on June 22, 2010| 5 Comments »

Photo courtesy of http://www.photobucket.com

Yesterday’s quick grocery run would normally have been a typical, mundane task hardly worth noting. But God, in His infinite wisdom has a way of using even the seemingly insignificant things in life to teach us valuable lessons and reaffirm the fact that He cares about the smallest details of our lives.

If you’ll bear with me, I’ll try not to bore you with trivial shopping details, but I would like to take you to the produce section for a moment. Interestingly enough, produce was not even on my small list, but that is precisely where I headed first. More specifically, my cart sort of drove itself to a basket of reduced (aka cheap) bananas, which was an interesting feat since I didn’t even know they were there.

I cannot even remember the last time I made banana nut bread, but I instinctively grabbed two big bunches in order to amend the situation. Then I had a thought. I needed more bananas so that I could make extra and give some away. So with two more big bunches tucked into my cart, I hurried off to finish shopping.

What I didn’t know was that something interesting was happening at my home about that same time. Our air conditioning had broken down (that’s not the interesting part) and someone was coming to look at it.

That’s a whole other story in itself. Let me give you the nutshell version, though, because it ties into my banana story. When the air conditioner quit a few weeks ago, my natural inclination was to call the repairman immediately. However, my husband and I are walking through a new commitment to be less hasty in our decisions, especially those that pertain to finances. So we waited and prayed about the least expensive way to fix the unit.

We really aren’t cheapskates, but the heat was becoming unbearable and we had decided that calling a repairman was just not in the budget at the time. The very same day that my husband planned to do something about the situation, a co-worker volunteered to come look at the unit.Long story short, God answered our prayer for an inexpensive fix. The parts only cost thirty-five dollars. I don’t have to tell you what a blessing and a relief that was! But there is more.

Of course my husband had inquired as to how much payment his co-worker wanted for labor, but he politely refused because, in his own words, “I just really like helping people.” If you read my last post, ‘My Husband’s Gift, you will know that it was only the day before this that my husband was in a remarkably similar situation, only he was on the giving end. Wow! What an example of reaping what you sow.

So what does this have to do with bananas? When I pulled into the driveway after my shopping excursion, my husband happened to be standing there. With a big smile, he gave me two-thumbs-up. I knew the air conditioner had been fixed. “How much?” I asked. He happily told me the price. “But there is something else- the fix,” he said, “will cost us thirty-five dollars and (playful pause) banana bread.”

I laughed aloud and exclaimed, “God is so cool!” With that, I opened the hatch and handed him a bag of bananas. “I already planned to make banana bread tonight,” I explained, “and the thought had already occurred to me that I needed to make extra to give away.”

Not at all surprised, my husband then explained that when his co-worker didn’t accept payment, he planned to respond, “Well, at least let my wife cook something for you.” But when he opened his mouth, the words “Then you are getting some banana bread,” slipped out instead.

You might think this is all coincidence, but I assure you it is not. God really does care about the most minute details of our lives. Matthew 6:8 assures us that our heavenly Father knows what we need even before we ask. He wants us to be so keenly aware of this fact that he uses even the simple things in life to prove it.

This post is just one small example. God cared that we were miserable in the heat. He cared that our finances were tight and there were better things to do with our money than spend it on repairs. And he cared enough about my husband’s co-worker to give him the opportunity to help others since that is important to him.

And believe it or not, finding cheap bananas was no coincidence either. My heavenly Father threw in the banana bread element so that I would recognize His had at work and not take it for granted. It is so easy to become distracted by the stuff of life that we don’t recognize the simplest of blessings and give credit where credit is due.

I truly hope, dear reader, that as you go through this week that you too will take the time to look around you and see God’s hand at work in your life. It shouldn’t be hard; Evidence of God’s abundant goodness are all around us and envelop just as the scrumptious aroma of banana bread baking in an oven fills the kitchen.

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