In a piece I wrote called, He remains faithful, I said that no matter how it gets, God is in control. I realised my life has to be the first port of display of this truth if I proclaim it.
I’m one of those people whose devices give extremely good service. My phones give me five years and my laptops up to ten years. I rarely replace things because I’m bored, rather I replace them because the device no longer serves the purpose.
In December, my phone notified me about its performance. I kept getting notices about the battery life and every so often it hang for no reason. The young king was watching he seemed more alarmed about it than I was and he couldn’t understand why I was so blase about the situation. Every week he said something about it and my standard response was “God will provide the resources or the phone.” Was that a hiding tactic? Not at all. It was my truth because unless God provided resources, I didn’t have anything extra available to make a big purchase. This led to four months with him living on the edge and me flouncing through life seemingly carefree.
Fast forward a few weeks and I’m trying to figure out how to replace his phone when a dear friend and one of my leads offered to take him to trade in his phone and get a new one. As they did that they find a phone for me. That sounds simple enough right? Well, we have two old phones to trade in then we top up the difference and I am sure we have an option coming. As they wait for some things to be sorted, another client walks in and trades in a good phone of the brand I usually use.
Unbeknownst to the young king, my lead calls me and tells me about the phone. He thinks I should get it but I dismiss the idea because I didn’t have money. He repeats that I need to get it and I say I am trusting God for resources. The young king calls me and mentions the same phone with a plan of how I could acquire it. He offers to trade the resources he has acquired so painstakingly to me so that I can get this phone and I am not sure.
However, I am still trying to use that phone as a stopgap for him for about six weeks which will allow me to make something and get him the phone he wants as I pick this one. As we spoke, clarity of what my lead had said to me earlier came and I suddenly understood the right position…trade in my current phone and top up the difference from my business account because it is a tool of the trade and leaves the young king’s money for his phone. Suffice it to say, trading in and getting used phones did the trick.
What caught my attention was that not only did the young king have the confirmation that I would get a phone, but he also had insight into how it would come and was aware enough to see it before I did. My words that God would provide the resources were proven when the other customer walked in with a phone to dispose of, trading in my current phone cut the cost by more than half and I had just enough in savings for the balance. Yet it was not clear until the young king voluntarily stepped aside to sacrifice getting his phone so he could get me mine. He also received a reward because the door opened for an even better phone than what he had initially found.
God fascinates me because while we are still sitting in corners and sulking or wondering he is at work sorting things out and aligning answers. Scripture is so clear that He is prepping with words like, “It shall also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.” (Is 65:23). This incident helped me realise that even when the path is unclear for me, God is not asleep or taking a vacation. He is right there with me walking the path with me giving me the guidance I need because He knows what I need before I ask Him (Matt 6:8). If He can care for the flowers, the grass, the trees, the birds, the animals in the wild, surely I am of more value than these (Matt 6:25-31) and he will definitely supply all my needs according to HIS riches in glory (Phil 4:19).
God is not a butler who is at my beck and call neither is he a fairy godfather who lavishly dispenses. He is a father. Father is an economy. Father is the source, provider, protector, and preserver. He is the one who stands up and is counted on to ensure that his children do not lack. He calls me his own and has one major instruction for me to access everything. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matt 6:33-34.
This does not mean that I do nothing other than stay in church, though that could be the call of some like Anna. Rather it means that:
- I check every move with Him,
- Finalise every plan with Him,
- Evaluate every situation with Him,
- Just live in tandem with HIM.
Oneness with God means not taking a stand or making a move without a clear word from Him. It means to be devoted to prayer and time with Him and to listen keenly to the word as He opens it up to me. It means access to ideas and opportunities others would never have seen or connected to because at that moment you are in the right place.
Walking by faith is what God calls us to be and to do. The deep certainty that no matter how it looks or what is going on around, we know that we know that we know, that He will come through. It is knowing with certainty like we know our names, that HE is reliable. It is allowing Him to teach us His truths through His servants even those significantly younger than us (now this is a story for another day). It is being unmoved by the things around us and resting deeply on and in the word that has come from His mouth to us.
Shalom.
