Vacation Time

Several years ago my husband, Chuck, and I were in desperate need of a vacation…long on desperation but short on the money to do it.  We made the decision that I would be a stay-at-home mom until our boys went to school.  Of course, that meant leaner times. I came to the realization over the prior winter that we weren’t going to be able to get enough money saved to have much if any vacation at all.  We faithfully pay tithes so I went to the Lord in prayer asking Him if I should get a temporary job to ensure we’d have a vacation.  The Lord said, “No, I will provide.”  Over the course of the next several months, I asked the Lord again, “Lord, are you sure I shouldn’t get a job?”  The answer was always the same, “I will provide.” 

Our plan was to travel to Oregon in August to visit Chuck’s family. In the Spring Chuck and I sat down to figure out how much money we would need for a barebones vacation. We figured the amount and once again I prayed.  “So Lord, how about that job?  There’s plenty of time yet.”  The Lord’s reply, “I will provide.”  In June an unexpected check from an electric co-op we previously belonged too arrived in the mail.  It was $100, not enough for our trip to Oregon, but we were on our way.  Over the course of the summer, the Lord miraculously brought in the rest of the money, $10 here, $25 there. I was so blessed to watch the Lord provide just as He said He would.  Our part was to obey and be faithful.  He literally took care of the rest.  I have to mention, we never breathed a word to anyone about our slim to none vacation fund. The day had finally arrived for us to leave on vacation. We were all packed up and loaded to go, with plans to leave immediately after church service.  We were still short $100 from the barebones amount needed. But I didn’t worry, the Lord had promised to provide.  After service that morning, two women came to me and handed me greeting cards.  The first lady said, “Here is a little extra spending money.”  When I opened it up, there was $40!  The next woman said, “We just received $60 in the mail this week and we don’t have any need for it, so we decided to give it to you.” The Lord had provided all that we needed!  The story doesn’t end there, while in Oregon, He blessed us once again financially and rather than being a ‘barebones’ vacation, it was the whole enchilada!

This is one of my favorite memories of how the Lord provided miraculously for us.  My journey with Him had gone from one of worry to trusting completely in His care and provision for us. Over the years, I have tried to ‘help’ the Lord along in His provision for us.  What marvelous blessings I miss when taking matters into my own hands.

What are you wrestling with in your life today?  The Psalmist tells us in Psalm 25:12 “Who, then, is the man that fears the Lord?  He will instruct him in the ways chosen for him.” (NIV) Our lives are to be consumed by God, not only with thoughts about Him.  It is in Him we live and move and have our being. We should look at everything in relation to God.  There is nothing that happens in our lives He isn’t aware of, and yet sometimes, we give into worry and fear and allow our minds to be consumed with the ‘What if’s?’ In his book, My Utmost For His Highest author Oswald Chambers, says, “If we are haunted by God, nothing else can get in, no cares, no tribulation, no anxieties.  We see now why our Lord so emphasized the sin of worry.  How can we dare be so utterly unbelieving when God is round about us?  To be haunted by God is to have an effective barricade against all the onslaughts of the enemy.”  Verse 13 of this same passage in Psalm 25 goes on to read, “His soul shall dwell at ease.”  Chambers continues, “In tribulation, misunderstanding, slander, in the midst of all these things, if our life is hid with Christ in God, He will keep us at ease.  We rob ourselves of the marvelous revelation of this abiding companionship of God.  “God is our refuge” – nothing can come through the shelter.”

If your mind has been overtaken by worry, fear or anxiety, take a moment to reflect on who God has been in your life.  Let it bolster your faith and help you to overcome the feelings.  I recently heard it said that faith is not an emotion. Faith, rather, is a product of relationship. Perhaps even better understood, faith is a yardstick or thermometer measuring relationship.

I’ve learned to agree.

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