Joy Treasure exists to encourage believers to treasure God's word, draw near to Him, and seek to apply God's truth to daily living. Life change can happen because we know Christ.
One of the things I enjoy hearing are stories about how God shows Himself to be "Provider" to my friends and fellow church members. God provides so many things to us every day and many of them, we all can take for granted.
To enter the Free Art Friday posts, please share with me a story about how God has shown you He is your provider. How has HE shown you that HE will take care of you, how He has all the details worked out and how He is faithful to show you He was with you and did not forget you.
The story will be posted on the blog on Monday evening when I announce the winner. I am going to pick the person whose story best expresses God's provision, faithfulness, and taking care of the tiniest details.
Start comments by Friday 6am, July 30th til Saturday 6am July 31st. After that, commenting is over. I will publish all comments after I read them first.
Blogging to remember, treasure and share the joy of Jesus.
"His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master."
Matthew 25:23
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God spoke ever so softly, but definitely audibly, to me. He told me to do the craziest thing: to give away my one most prized, cherished and treasured item to a very dear friend. Now, to many, this item would not be so valuable. In fact, it's easily purchased and not too expensive. But, what it held was so important to me. Things so private and personal that no one except my husband has seen them. But, they were things that have gotten me through the past six years: through financial problems, marital issues, an intense time of questioning my beliefs, etc. You get the idea. Some may guess what the item was, but I'll not share in this note. There's no pride in what I'm writing. Only a moment that I thought would be the hardest thing to do, but God turned it into one of the sweetest moments of my life. For about 24 hours, I kept asking God if He had told me to give this away, or if I had only imagined hearing His voice. The same response kept coming: be an obedient servant. But, what if this friend didn't treasure the item as much as I had? After all, it probably wouldn't be valuable to anyone else. But, the answer was clear, and I had to obey. I wasn't immediately obedient like Abraham was when God told him to sacrifice Isaac. I'm having to relearn what it is to hear God's voice because for so long, I listened to my own heart. So, I have a tedency to question if I'm hearing God, or if it's my own thoughts clouding my mind. So, for 24 hours, I questioned. And, for 24 hours, the answer remained the same. You see, for several weeks, I've been sensing a change in seasons in my life. I knew I had gone through a healing process several weeks ago in church. So, when I was questioning God about passing on this item, He spoke to me, saying that I needed a new item for a new season. So I called my friend to say that I had something I needed to pass along to her, and I'd bring it over when she got home. I knew I wouldn't be able to give this item to her without crying, so I decided that I'd go over and leave it in her mailbox, so I didn't have to face her. On the drive over, with tears running down my face, I asked God one last time that if this was what He wanted me to do, to give me a peace about it. A calm came over me. As I pulled in next to the mailbox and left the item there, I knew I had done what God asked of me. I called the friend and told her to check her mailbox when she got home. As I hung up the phone, a sweet sadness swept over me. Most of you know how much I love music, and how much it speaks to me. The second I hung up the phone, I turned up the radio. And there it was! God's confirmation, and His grace over me. The song coming on was "Every Season" by Nichole Nordeman. The lyrics talk about God recreating us in new seasons, and giving us new life with new seasons. This time it wasn't just tears streaming down my face; it was a moment of weeping filled with gratitude. I knew that very moment that the past was over, and a new creation is taking place in my life, a new season. And, God was so gracious to give me that song to remember this new season, this new turning point, in my life. It will be a song that I'll always associate with that item that meant so much to me, and the new life it may bring to my friend.
ReplyDeleteAfternote: I went to purchase a new item. I found what I was looking for, paid for it, walked out of the store, got in the car, and guess what song was playing on the radio when I cranked the car? Same song: "Every Season!!!!" Isn't that great?! God is so faithful to provide instructions, reassurance, memories and, thankfully, new seasons of life!
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ReplyDeleteFor sure, God is PROVIDER. There are so many ways I can think to describe this attribute of God in my life. The biggest way I have seen Him show off in this way has got to be the way he took care of my mom, sister and me when my dad passed away.
We were all three in different places when it happened, and God orchestrated the perfect plan in each of our situations to make sure we were not only not alone when we found out, but we were with people who genuinely loved and cared for us.
For me specifically, I was living in New Orleans and was on my way to a friend's apartment. I forgot something I needed and turned my car around to run inside and grab it. While this was happening, my mom was calling my friend's mom to make sure I wasn't alone when I found out. He hung the phone up from talking with his mom the second I knocked on the door. If I hadn't turned around to get the thing I forgot, I would have been there when he received the call. If I had left a little later, he would have had to sit there and think about what he was about to have to tell me.
This may seem small to some, but was a huge way the Lord took care of me during that time. He really does care about every detail in our lives. (My mom and sister were taken care of very specifically on that day as well. And don't even get me started on every other little way he provided for us during that incredibly hard time!)