God's Abundant Blessing

Have you ever come out of a really hard time in life and experienced God’s abundant blessing? Like crazy, over the top, abundant blessing?  I have and I have to tell you it was over whelming and sweet.  There was a decade of time in my mid-twenties to mid-thirties that was really hard for me.  Personally, I experienced huge challenges and felt like I was walking through a really hard time.  Nothing was as I had hoped or planned.  It felt like I was walking through the desert with no hope in site.  My career was ok, but I wanted more.  My health was not great, and I was struggling to pay bills. I felt alone and could not see an end in sight.  

All my friends had gotten married, and I was the only single girl left in my group.  Many were having kids and buying houses and building lives together with their spouses.  I felt isolated and alone.  It’s hard to be the odd man out. My older sister was married, and she had beautiful children.  So even at family events with my parents, I felt like the odd man out.  Nobody else saw that, but that was how my heart was breaking at the time.  

I knew that something had to change, but I didn’t know what!  I decided that I would sign up to take classes to gain additional certification for my job.  I lived in Houston, and I worked a 40-hour work week and then Monday – Thursdays from 6pm to 10pm I went to class.  My mind began to see opportunities outside my daily routine through education.  I had to become more disciplined to keep the schedule up and still have energy throughout the week.  I did shopping, laundry and homework on the weekends. After the yearlong program, I received a promotion at work that had nothing to do with the education program but boosted my outlook on life temporarily.  Through work, I was again promoted and transitioned to a managerial position in Dallas.  In Dallas, I started working on my life.  My finances were better due to the promotions and my outlook was better for it.  I began to pay off debt.

A couple of years passed, and I realized that I was out of debt, and I wanted to build a house.  I signed a contract to build a starter home, when I realized that I would need to fill it with furniture and appliances.  I took on a 2^nd job working evenings and weekends in a retail store to make extra money.  I had crazy hours again, but I knew it was an end to a means and I dug in to save money and get ready for moving day.  I made some good friends at the retail store and the time spent there was fun.

While I was working my second job, I met a man that was in a different phase of life.  He had been a police officer and was wounded on the job. He didn’t think he would go back to work in the same capacity.  He and his wife decided to sell their house to move to an apartment so life could be more manageable.  He had a house full of yard equipment he was trying to get rid of and a much-needed washer and dryer he was willing to part with.  Talk about an answer to prayer.  I bought his washer and dryer and lawn mower and all the yard work equipment that I could muster.  I also needed a refrigerator.  I would try to save for that after I paid him for his equipment.  He held the items in his garage until his house sold.  If his house sold before my house was ready to move into, I would find a place to store everything I bought until I could move in.  I prayed about the timing and left it in God’s hands.

It was amazing how God used his misfortune to bless me and how God used me to bless him with the money he desperately needed for his next stage in life.  As my house was about to be completed, his house sold.  His moving day was also my moving day.  He moved out of his house on the day I moved in.  The equipment that I bought was moved into my house the very day I needed it.  As I was moving, I checked my mail one last time and found an unexpected check with enough money to buy a brand-new refrigerator.  The refrigerator was delivered the day after I moved into my new house.  I continued to work another month after the move and bought blinds for my windows and furnished the house with rugs and décor that I had chosen.  My parents came to town to help me settle in.  My dad hung mini- blinds and installed ceiling fans while my mom and I unpacked.  I will never forget the conversation.  I told my mom about all the ways God answered my prayers.  I told her how he had blessed the man that I worked with and how he answered every one of his prayers.  The thankfulness in my heart was mind blowing.  God was able to take care of this man’s needs by providing him what he needed while he was taking care of needs, I didn’t even know that I had.

I didn’t feel alone. I felt well cared for and even spoiled. There was not a detail that was not attended to or any hope or need unfulfilled.  I was so amazed by God’s generosity that I almost felt guilty.  He poured out blessing after blessing until my heart almost burst.  I had always known, God answered prayers and have always felt him take care of me, but this time was different.  He wasn’t bailing me out of trouble.  He wasn’t holding anything back from me.  He showed me how much he loved me and that he cared about all the details.  He is able to do abundantly more than ever thought. Did I deserve it? NO.  Did he doit just because he could?  YES!

I tell you this so you can understand that God loves his children, and he wants what is good for them. God’s riches are abundant, and he generously provides to those who seek him.  Not every time and not in the same way.  I needed to know that I was not the odd man out.  That my hopes and dreams were important to me and therefore important to God.  He lavishly poured himself out in a physical and tangible manner to meet my needs.  My heart was filled with the joy of knowing God and being cared for and blessed by him.

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