It was a rainy day in November. November days shouldn’t be rainy – they should either be dry enough to enjoy the crispy leaves beneath your feet, or snowy. But rain in November is just unpleasant. I had been sitting at my desk in the church office, talking to the Lord as I did my various tasks.
I was in the midst of completing my Bachelors in Human Services/Management and using almost all of my income towards my education in order to fulfill my goal of finishing without any debt. Between my two jobs, I was earning plenty – but school seemed to be taking my money faster than it was coming in. I felt frustrated with my lack of finances ($500, to be exact) to pay for my next class I was scheduled to take.
I decided it was a good time to get some fresh air, so I walked to the mailbox – in the freezing rain. As I did, my conversation with the Lord almost brought me to the point of tears (cold ones!). “Lord, You said You would provide. But when?? I needed this – like – yesterday! When will You come through? When will You fulfill Your promise?”
I had mostly recovered from my frustration by the time I got back into the office with the pile of mail. I took off my jacket and sat down in my office chair. I began sorting – magazines, junk mail, invitation, oh… and an envelope with my name. How exciting! I looked curiously at the typed label. It had no return address. I grabbed the letter opener and found a piece of paper with one typed line that simply said:
May God bless your education
No name, no signature, no handwriting that I might be able to define. Just one piece of paper, and five $100 bills.
The tears began to flow once again – but this time tears of gratitude, tears of trust, tears of feeling overwhelmed with God’s provision and goodness right in the midst of my complaints. Who knew that I needed $500? And who would send it to me that way?
To this day, I don’t know who that anonymous giver was. All I know is that God knew – He even knew right to the point of my greatest desperation. He had things all lined up to provide.
Those months of work and school proved to be much more of a field training than I ever would have expected. I saw God provide time and time again – from someone filling my gas tank to someone’s gift of $1000 – for no other apparent reason than “The Lord told me to.” I learned over and over to trust the Lord for my provision.
He always takes care of us. He gets us to where He wants us to be. He’s worthy of our complete trust.