#TestimonyTuesday: God’s provision
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This testimony comes from a friend called Darlene, via DingDash.
It speaks of God’s miraculous provision for so many things, including needs for health and a home. It shows His love for us – as His children – and how God uses all sorts of people to help us along our journey. |
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God’s Provision
Several years ago my family and I moved to the house where we now live. There is more to that testimony, but I’ll leave that for another time. At the time of our move, we owned our previous home but didn’t have a significant savings or a high income.
From the time our first child was born, I’ve stayed home with the children. So, my husband has been the only one earning a regular income.
We purchased our current home through a special arrangement, and with the expectation that our previous home would very soon be sold or leased out. This didn’t happen. So, for a year we owned two houses while not even knowing how we could afford living expenses and the payments for one house! I can only explain this as a miracle.
It was a stressful situation, but God brought us through. Then, at the end of that same year, I was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer. Our children were ages 2 years and 4 years at the time. How God brought me through that is another testimony as well, and also for another time. But, this testimony is of God’s provision.
We had two houses to maintain and already didn’t know how we could make it financially or how we’d survived the year. How would we afford the necessary cancer treatment?
God led us to Mexico for life-saving treatments and kind friends gifted us the plane tickets. Just before we left an agreement was made for the sale of our previous home, and papers were signed to allow the closing to take place in our absence.
I was very weak physically at this time, and couldn’t even hold my eyes open properly. The treatments began in Mexico (just in time) and were quite successful. But, we were eager for the sale of the house to go through so we could pay for my treatments. The closing date for the sale of the house was postponed, due to a major snowstorm and I was scheduled for surgery. We needed to make some payments! At that time a brother and sister sent a generous gift and a family member loaned an additional sum. We were able to proceed with the surgery and treatments.
Later, the sale of the house went through and we were able to use a large part to pay for my healthcare expenses and put some toward the mortgage on our current home. But, there were ongoing healthcare needs and expenses.
I had anticipated the full amount for the previous house going into the mortgage for our current house and felt badly about having cost my family so much money! If it weren’t for my having had cancer, my family would be in a much better position financially. Since that time, it seems we’ve struggled so much. And, while we have seen God’s hand continue to provide, sometimes miraculously, the feeling of shame and need have remained.
But, recently God showed me that I’ve been seeing it wrongly. He was taking care of us by having us move to our present house at just the right time and delaying the sale of the other house, so that the healthcare costs would be covered by the sale of that house.
While I found the situation stressful, it was arranged by Him all along. What if we hadn’t moved at all? We wouldn’t have had the money? What if the other house had sold initially? The money would have gone directly toward the house we’re living in and wouldn’t have been available for the healthcare expenses.
So, what I had been seeing as regrettable (money going for healthcare instead of toward the house payments), was actually God’s care and provision!! I’m challenged to a greater faith and trust in His goodness and provision. Yes, we have needs. But, He sees and will continue to provide! He also saved my life, so will He not also meet every need? His ways are far above our own!
One more thing about our move to our current location and God’s going before and preparing the way for us, is that we hadn’t even been looking for another house. One reason for this is that we thought we couldn’t afford to move. A friend had urged us to look into this particular house and our doing so initially was to satisfy the friend’s wishes, but God had other plans.
Darlene