"Give thanks to the LORD and proclaim His greatness.
Let the whole world know what He has done.
Sing to Him; yes sing His praises.
Tell everyone about His wonderful deeds." (vs. 1-2)
As I read and gave thanks, the Lord revealed to me that I do not make it a practice of proclaiming His greatness to others, Letting the whole world know what He has done, or Telling everyone about His wonderful deeds throughout history or for me. And there are people everywhere who need to hear of His greatness and what He has done. This is one story of the countless things Jesus Christ has done for me.
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Years of financial debt from foolish spending had enslaved us. We could not afford to go out to dinner and even had to watch how much we drove so that we didn't spend too much in gas. Vacations and even camping were usually out of the question because of the cost. It severely impacted our relationships because we could not afford to go anywhere or do anything! Like I said, we were slaves to our debt.
Throughout this time, we were faithful to God in our giving of finances as well as our time, and even at times gave more. Ministry usually has some cost associated with it, whether it be gas, Gospel tracts, food or supporting the needs of people in impoverished areas of the world. Though at times it was difficult, we did not want to restrict these activities because we knew that God would bless our attempts.
And He did. In my occupation, work slows down in the winter months due to harsh winters, causing my employer to temporarily lay me off until work picks back-up. Living on unemployment wages makes life even more difficult. In late summer of 2011, in an attempt to plan for the upcoming unemployment season, I met with my 401K plan adviser to see if the money in my account was accessible. What he told me was encouraging. I could get the money after I was laid-off for the season, if my office manager allowed it- which he did! I did the math, and with this money, I could get most of our debt paid-off, even after paying the penalties and taxes on the early withdrawal as well as the loans I had against the plan. Withdrawing your retirement account is probably discouraged by most financial advisers, but we spent much time in prayer and seeking the Lord about it and were certain it was what He wanted us to do.
The account did have over $35,000 in it at one time, but after the economy crashed, it had been on a steady decline. Furthermore, I had stopped contributing to it because we needed the money elsewhere. Around that time, my statement indicated a balance of about $18,000. After doing the calculations, I figured that we would have about $8,000 to $10,000 to put toward our debt, which would not totally pay it off, but would be very helpful!
But God has bigger plans and better ideas for our lives when we are obedient to Him! We received a statement just prior to closing the account, which showed a balance of somewhere in the ballpark of $23,000! We could not believe it! What was even more wonderful was that when we received the check, the amount was for about $26,000! God had provided more than we would need to pay off all of our debt! We were blown away! We had been asking God to provide us with more than we needed and that we believed that He, as our heavenly Father, gives better gifts than our earthly fathers, as the Bible says. He had blessed us in a truly amazing way, way more than we had expected. Thank you God- we praise You!
This is not to say that God only blesses us with money or material things. God blesses us all with air to breath, the beauty of creation, health, spouses, children, mothers, fathers, friends, jobs, and the list goes on and on. I have recently been blessed with a new job that God presented before me for various reasons and He has placed a passion in the heart of my wife to go to back to school and become a holistic nutritionist. These are blessings from God for living humbly and obediently to Him.
For the person who does not believe that God exists or that He is not active in our lives, you need to open your eyes to the world around you and to what is going on in your life. Though you cannot see God, He is here with us and the evidence of His existence, of His presence and His blessings are everywhere. From the billions of stars in the night sky, to the newness of life in the spring; from the birth of a child, to your health condition, to life itself, the evidence is everywhere. Jesus is alive and blesses those who live in obedience to Him.
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