I am working on my second book and am excited about beginning a chapter about God’s provision. God’s provision can take many forms: food, shelter, jobs, relationships, money…the list goes on. I’d like to ask everyone who reads this blog to think about a time when God provided for you in an amazing way. If you have a great story to tell–and wouldn’t mind if it ended up in my book–please leave a comment on this blog.
I’ll also tell you a story of God’s recent provision for me. As I reported in an earlier blog, I’m in the process of a divorce. I moved with my girls about an hour away from my husband to a new town because my oldest daughter is on a select softball team that practices 3 times a week near this town, so it made sense to move here. I also wanted a new start in a new place. And while I am really coming to love this new town, making new friends takes a lot of time, and because most of my free time is spent driving my daughters to their sports (and I mean nearly every weeknight), I don’t get to meet people very often.
So God ordained that my college roommate, Julie, whom I hadn’t seen in at least ten years, would move to a nearby town just a few months ago. Although Julie and I didn’t know each other prior to college, we were assigned the same room and lived together during our last two years at college. We have kept in touch all these 24 years since then. During those 24 years, God has turned Julie into the most incredible Christian woman, and her husband, who she was dating at the time, is now, likewise, a devoted follower of Jesus Christ.
When Julie and I were reunited a few weeks ago, we talked nonstop for four hours. I went away feeling absolutely drenched in the dew from heaven. I knew that God and God alone had provided for my deepest heartfelt needs.
It’s amazing how God places people in our lives when He knows we will need them. I had no idea that I was going to move to this town until the beginning of August. I’d never even been to this town prior to that time. It was literally an overnight decision after a night of gut-wrenching prayer trying to decide where to go. And then, a few weeks after moving here, I remembered receiving an e-mail from Julie saying she was moving from Arizona (the same town where we’d gone to college) to a small town near here.
And now she’s back in my life, exactly when I needed her. And I mean, I need her. In the last ten years, I lost my entire family of origin, including my only sibling, my brother. Now that I’m losing my husband, I sometimes feel like a bona fide orphan. Yet Jesus said, “I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you.” (John 14:18) And He has come to me. I have felt His presence, and now He has brought a wonderful old friend back into my life.
If you have any great stories about how our God of provision has blessed you, please share them. I’d love to hear from you.
