As I child I learned the verse, Philippians 4:19 “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus”.  Although I want to say we always live by that verse, I have to admit that many times I fail in fully trusting God to truly supply all we need.  This lesson in trust has been pounded in my head on a daily basis during the last few months.

Back in November, 2010, our geothermal unit quit working properly.  We’ve had problems with it for the past 6 years, but we’ve always managed to get it going again.  However, it became apparent that it was on its last leg.  In December, during our first big blizzard, the unit completely died, leaving us with a small back-up unit as our only heat source.  We immediately fired up our wood stove to heat up the living room area.  For the next 7 weeks, we had to work extra hard in keeping the house somewhat warm while we waited for a new geothermal unit to arrive.  Our church family loaned us several little “child-proof” heaters so that the kids could be warm in their bedrooms at night.  Another neighbor gave us wood for our woodstove since our wood pile was quickly diminishing. We did a lot of baking during those weeks so that the kitchen could stay warm!  Heat quickly became a luxury and we better could empathize with those who struggle to have heat during the cold winter months. 

While the Lord was obviously caring for us through the assistance of our church family, I still had a tendency to fret about how we’d come up with the finances to pay for the new furnace.  Sometimes I think God must just shake his head in dismay when He sees me showing such a lack of faith in His ability to provide.  Yet - God continues to show his utmost love and concern for us in spite of our doubts and fears.  Last week when our furnace was due to arrive, God once again showed us his great power.  At just the last minute, the last of the funds miraculously came in for the furnace.  Once again I had to humbly ask the Lord to forgive me for my lack of faith. 

The furnace was installed and I’d love to say that that’s the end of the story - but it’s not.  The day after we began enjoying the amazing warmth of 70 degree heat in the house, we were shocked to discover that we had very little water pressure.  It quickly became impossible to flush a toilet, wash hands, or take a shower.  The workmen came back out and worked on the furnace all day, only to discover that we either have a faulty piece on the new geothermal unit OR our 12 year old well is going bad.  We had a choice to make in the meantime.  Have heat (which will use up all the water) or have water and no heat.  Once again, it’s been easy for me to question God.  Yet, I know better.  God has never failed us nor forsaken us.  He has ALWAYS met our needs.  As I pondered upon this in church this morning, I quickly came to the realization that I am expending energy in worrying that could be used in a more profitable way - like serving and glorifying God.  I made the conscious decision to immediately turn the issue over to God as I Peter 5:7 says, “Casting all your care upon Him for He careth for you”.  I was then freed up to focus on what God wanted to teach me through the scriptures being expounded.  What a feeling of relief!  By the way - when we were done with the service, I happened to open a card that was in our church mailbox.  In that card was a note of encouragement and a $50 bill!  God once again was showing us that He is still in the business of providing all of our needs. Are our problems completely solved yet?  No - but that’s OK because I have the best Provider in the world taking care of the problem! 

I don’t know what trials you are going through right now - but could I encourage you a bit?  Turn it fully over to the Lord and see what great and mighty things He has in store for you!  You may not get everything exactly like you want it, but God knows what is best for you and He has great blessings for you when you let Him show you with great and awesome power.  May you have the joy of the Lord today as you rest fully on Him!

Becky, God’s Eternal Masterpiece

www.godseternalmasterpiece.com