Where God Leads He Will Provide

I’m currently reading a book and going through the online bible study, Come With Me, by Suzanne Eller. I’m not very far into the book but these two questions captured me and I’ve been camping out on it for a while.

“Have you ever had someone ask you to do something that makes no sense in the natural? What do you do if that request comes from Jesus?” Come with Me, Suzanne Eller 

When I think back over my life, I think about a few very specific times when God provided a way or He provided wisdom in a decision or He provided financially. Each of these times, and a few others along the way, have given us the foundation to trust that He will continue to provide in the future. There’s an old(ish) song by Babbie Mason, Trust His Heart, where she sings, “God is too wise to be mistaken. God is too good to be unkind. So when don’t understand, when you don’t see His plan, when you can’t trace His hand, trust His heart.” It’s not that we need to know what He’s up to, we just need to believe that whatever it is and wherever He leads, He will make it good. (Jeremiah 29:11)

God provided a 4 bedroom house. We had two kids and had decided we were done. One of each and a solid man on man defense. We moved to a new city and after looking at over 70 houses, not kidding, we landed on one that has remained one of our favorites ever. I remember telling our agent that we didn’t need to look at 4 bedroom homes. Money was tight and we only had 2 kids. 3 bedrooms would be plenty. She assured us we would want to see this one. We bought that home and moved our family of 4 into it. It wasn’t long after that we had our 3^rd child and made good use of that 4^th bedroom. God knows what we need. I’m not sure why I continue to doubt His provision.

God provided ALL that was needed for homeschooling. Anyone who has homeschooled knows what all is involved. Being teacher, principal and parent is quite an undertaking. When we told our family that we would be homeschooling our two oldest (2^nd and 4^th grade) and we had a baby and Tommy was working out of town a lot, we were met with loads of questions and doubts. We knew we would hit some naysayers but it was discouraging not to have the support we’d hoped for. Truth is, we really didn’t know all of the why’s that would be revealed in months to come but we knew were supposed to do this crazy homeschool thing. We knew it was right. During that year, our family went through several significant changes and hardships. Homeschooling the kids gave us the close family time we needed and the flexibility to be present in situations that a standard school schedule would not have allowed.

God provided for our kid’s college by moving our family to Singapore. Leaving our oldest behind to start college on her own. Take a 16 and a 10 year old with us to start a new life in a foreign place. We heard this question more than a few times, “Are you crazy?” And we’d smile and answer, “Why yes, yes we are.”

In our early marriage, we were really pretty clueless about how to handle money. I guess it would probably be better to say that my husband and I had different ways of managing finances and neither pushed their way on the other so we just sort of did what came next. Our desire was to manage God’s provision well, our hearts were in the right place, but for many years we lived paycheck to paycheck. In our ignorance, we didn’t save for our kid’s college. When it started getting close to those college years we prayed for provision. And God moved us to Singapore. Because of this move and its financial benefits, we were able to pay cash for our two older kids to go to college and saved a nice chunk back for the third. I’ll add that He went above and beyond in His provision on this one because we still got to travel and live very well. We ate lots of rice in Asia but only because we wanted to.

God provided a marriage miracle. So many marriages fall over the edge of the cliff. It’s not that hard to get there. My husband and I can attest to that. Our marriage came millimeters from the edge. When would have made more sense by the world’s standards for us to go and when staying made no sense in the natural, the God of the supernatural gave us the strength to stay and heal and redeem what was broken. In similar ways that God provided a Christmas miracle for George Bailey, He provided a marriage miracle for us.

God provided another adventure for our family by moving us to England. An actual real life family member leaned in close just before we left and whispered loudly, “Can I ask you something? What in the hell are you thinking?” If you must know… I think everyone should move to another country at least once. I think everyone should have global adventures. I think everyone should find some way to not be stuck and broaden their horizons. God has created some amazingly gorgeous places and people and tasty treats out there.

As I ponder the book title, Come With Me, I am encouraged that there have been so many times that God said, “Andrea, come with me. I’ve got you.” And I said, “Okay.”

There is no place I’d rather be than smack in the middle of God’s will. Just like Noah’s rainbow, He promises to provide all we need when we come with Him. It may not turn out like we’d like it to, it’s actually highly probable that it won’t, but it will always turn out better when His footsteps are before mine.

What is God asking of you right now? How is He providing for you? Maybe His provision is a bit foggy but you can see glimpses of sunshine through the cracks? Please share. We can all find encouragement and comfort in our crazy when we know we’re not alone.

Here’s the song I mentioned earlier in the post. It’s an oldie but such a goodie.

This #FridayFive is brought to you by Mrs. Disciple’s #FridayFive Link Up over at Mrs. Disciple . The prompt this week was “Times God Provided”.  Go check out Kelly’s great post

Will the Uprooting Make You or Break You?

and visit a few others links from bloggers who have shared their reflective thoughts. Be sure to leave a comment. Comments are bloggers love language. We write what we want to say but we also love to read what you want to say.