Some weeks I feel like I'm caught in a bad proverb - "a day late and a dollar short".
This time of year is always a challenge with less income during the summer and more expenses with the beginning of school. I have heard and been touched so many stories of God coming through for people in a crisis - and the financial ones always seem so dramatic because I struggle with handing over my finances to God. You've probably heard some of the same stories:
A man on his way home from work is inspired to buy a gallon of milk, turn down a street he never travels and deliver the milk to a certain house where a hungry infant and broke but grateful parents reside.
A family has budgeted to get through the cash crunch, stocking up on canned and frozen foods, but don't know where they will get money for bread and milk for the next month. A neighbor stops by with a truck full of day-old bread items (complete with rolls, donuts and snack cakes) he has picked up for pennies at the discount store for the ducks on his pond and offers them as much as they want. Oh, by the way, a friend also insisted he take several gallons of milk from a dairy farm down the road, could the family use some?
Not all the stories involve dairy products. Some are simply unexpected payments or extra hours offered at work. Some are not even financially related, but involve fervent prayer by a friend which made a tough week bearable.
I feel so blessed this week to have God work specifically in ways that I can share and use as a witness. I know He works in my life every day and blesses me beyond what I can count, much less what I deserve, but this week I have seen specific numbers and had verbal confirmations that have lifted my spirits.
Several unexpected financial blessings, including a payment we didn't even know we were entitled to receive and some overtime pay which appeared on my husband's check in an amount two dollars more than what I prayed for allowed us to pay bills that I didn't think would get paid this week. (Bills that needed to get paid this week! And I can't remember when my husband last had a check that big!)
But something that was even more important to me was a coworker who came up to me on two different days and told me how she was praying for me in my job search and financial situation. She told me God had really put me on her heart this week and I was surprised at how choked up I got over her display of love.
"To the faithful you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless, to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself shrewd. You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty." - Psalm 18:25-27
God is good even when I don't plan ahead or always listen to Him. He is faithful when I come to Him humbly and tell Him my needs, even my desires. He answers prayers and pours out blessings over and above what I need.
This week reflect on what God has done in your life that you may not have given Him credit for and praise Him thoroughly, share His blessing with others and continue to ask for ways to glorify Him.