How often do I fail to give glory to God? No, let me take that back, first, how often do I fail to recognize God’s provision, grace, mercy and love? Then, out of the times I do recognize them, how often do I fail to give Him the glory for them publicly?
I’m not trying to invent some find of theology about there being a requirement to give praise to God publicly or anything but I do think that it is important that if we genuinely love God and are genuinely grateful to Him that we should share with others what He has done.
It’s so beneficial to us and to others to share (check out Everyday Testimonies for more people sharing what God has done) so today I want to just take a moment to publicly give praise to God and share what He has done for us this month.
Budget Shortfall
I budget about a month ahead. It’s tough because we can never quite be sure how many hours my wife will work and therefore how much she will be paid, but we do know what bills we have to pay and roughly how much she will bring home. I use Quicken Home and Business to monitor all of my accounts and do my budgeting.
At the beginning of this month (May 2010) I put in all the details of all the bills I knew were coming up and then put in some projected income figures. The outlook was bleak.
On June 1st, when the mortgage payment was automatically taken out of the bank we would be somewhere between $1500 and $2000 overdrawn.
Yeah, we had a MAJOR shortfall heading our way.
I’m of the George Meuller school of thought when it comes to these things and try not to go begging people for money, but rather I take it to God and leave it in his hands.
At least, I say I leave it in his hands but my stress level this month suggests something rather different.
Anyway, I took it to God, knowing that there was no way I could possibly come up with that much money on my own.
Miracles
That’s when the miracles started happening.
- Three new customers I hadn’t been expecting
- A gift of $200 in the mail
- Someone stopping by my house and giving me $100 because they felt like God wanted them to
Plus lots of other things that I have obviously not even noticed… and where are we now?
As of today, May 24th 2010 it’s looking like we will have almost exactly the right amount of money in the bank to cover our bills. Possibly even more than we need.
Praise The Lord!
I can look through the figures and try to work out how it has happened but the truth is, I have no idea how things have turned around so dramatically.
It’s the miraculous hand of God at work – and I want to give Him the praise and Glory for it today!
Of course, next month is next month and how we’re going to pay the bills next month is a whole different question but God tells us not to worry about tomorrow – He’s got that under control.
So I’ll leave that with Him and just praise Him for what He has done today!
What has God done for you this month?
He is supplying my money for a mission trip to Haiti- and is it coming from people I barely know that I would not have expected to give. I know it is His influence.
I could give story after story of His provision. Our needs have ALWAYS been met. Always.
Praise the Lord!
Funny how God works, huh?
Amen to THAT.
Thank you for all you've done for me this month. I mean it!
I'm glad, Peter.
Thanks, Helen
God is so good. One day, I'll have to tell you my story of how he has provided when I had to have it. Praying for you guys.
You could blog about it!
um. I needed to see His hand like this today… thank you.
God always knows what we need.
I just wish I (and probably most other Christians) would listen and obey more. I wonder how many other times someone has really needed something and God has told me to do it and I haven't done it so that person missed out.
Love it Peter! And thank you for mentioning the Everyday Testimony site. I've neglected it and you just reminded me that it does have some potential after all. I appreciate that. Thanks!
You're welcome!
Get that thing going again!
I was in the same boat as you, but god didn't show up. In fact, he wasn't there when my dad died, when my brother killed himself, and many other things that convinced me that he doesn't exist.
Glad he could pay your rent though. You must be a good pray-er. Now, if he could just stop those kids from dying in Africa….
John, I am sorry that you are hurting.
John, I think it honestly has less to do with being a good pray-er, and more to do with God's purposes. It's not that God can't stop bad things from happening, but that He sometimes doesn't. Unfortunately, none of us have specific answers as to why some people get what they pray for, while some people don't.
I am so, so very sorry that you are feeling abandoned by God. I am praying that He would reveal to you His purposes, which are so very hard to see. I am praying that you would feel His presence and be assured of His love. Please don't stop looking for Him.
Much love to you.
Peter, I don't know where to start. So, I'll just be general. God has reminded me of who He is and that He will do what He will do, regardless of how I feel about it. Through it all, He's teaching me to praise Him even when I don't understand or agree.
God is good all the time, and all the time God is good.
God is good all the time, and all the time God is good. AMEN!
Praise God Peter!
Thanks for coming by, Kevin.
I appreciate you!
Peter … loved this post. The comments were amazing too. God overwhelmed me with the dump fund. Who would have ever thought. God IS good.
Trey,
I am still just blown away by how much you raised for the Dump Fund. God is incredible! – and so are you!