Here’s a story about God’s blessing and provision, for myself and others.
On Wednesday mornings we have worship. This past Wednesday God worked in some pretty crazy ways. While we were worshiping I just got this sense that God was asking me to give up a significant amount of my finances. I was really confused because I’m currently raising money to go to Cambodia, it didn’t make any sense. The thing is I’ve never had to fully trust in God financially because I’ve always had my parents or my bank account to fall back on. I want to see God provide for me, but He has never had the opportunity. So I asked God, “I need you to confirm that you want me to give this money away. I need to know that it’s from you.” Ten minutes later someone gets up and starts talking about generosity. Sigh. Confirmation #1. Then they took an offering to help bring a flying car here to Australia. YWAM Townsville is currently in the process of bringing a flying car from the U.S. to Australia for the purpose of being able to reach people we normally wouldn’t be able to reach. Our leadership team told us we needed to raise $5,200 by that day so we can send two guys over to the U.S. to get certified and licensed so they can bring the car back to Australia. They called out for generosity, and asked us to listen to God and see where God was leading us. As we prayed and worshiped, people began coming forward and pledging money. After about fifteen minutes, they announced that we raised $5,230! This is one of the first times I truly witnessed a miracle. However I didn’t give at that point because I was still confused about how much God was asking me to give and to whom. To close our time, they announced that later that evening we would be having another time of giving. Confirmation #2. That day I spent some time praying and God gave me a number I was to give and brought to mind the family who I was to give to. It was scary, but I know I was meant to do it because God had confirmed it and I truly felt at peace about it. Later that night our school of about 26 people got together. We worshiped, encouraged one another and gave of physical as well as financial gifts. The financial gifts were to help each other get to outreach. For outreach we have two teams going to Cambodia and Papua New Guinea and some people, including myself, still need money to come in for those trips. One of the girls on our school, Rose, encouraged me with a story from Matthew 14, where Peter walks on water. In the story it says, ‘Oh you of little faith! Take courage,’ and Rose said she felt like that was meant for me. Confirmation #3. I went and anonymously donated the money God had told me to give. There is such incredible joy that comes from giving! A few minutes after I gave, another girl on our school approached me and said she was getting a paycheck in a few weeks and she wanted to give it to me. The amount she gave me made up for a large chunk of the money I had just given away. This is the first time I have seen God provide in such an obvious way. That night we ended up raising over $7,000 for one another! The people here absolutely BLOW ME AWAY. None of us have the money to give that much, but we’re all trusting God, obeying Him and joyfully giving and He is providing for us in the midst of it. A few days later I also found out that I was awarded a renewable scholarship for college, which was a total blessing. The kingdom of God doesn’t make sense to the world. Usually when you’re in need, you hoard your money and never think of giving any away. But we’re living according to God’s standards and there is nothing more rewarding then sacrificing everything for Him and being blessed in return.
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May 2017
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