Say it with me…Wow!
Here at New Life, we’re currently working through a three-week Sermon series titled The Money Test. It’s focused on a passage of scripture in 1 Timothy 6 with an emphasis on our material wealth and what we believe about the things we own.
Last week we discovered that we own nothing, as everything we have is given to us by God. We’ll give it all back when we die. Everything we own and everything we are, is on loan to us for a season, then we die and leave 100% of it all here. The real question is, in what are we placing our trust? Is our hope, our faith, our security, our peace, our life in God’s hands or are we trusting in our material substance to provide those things?
The ultimate question is, can we trust God to take care of us no matter the circumstances? If you have lots of money in the bank, can and will God take care of you? If you have little money in the bank, can and will God, take care of you? I hope you answered both questions with a resounding YES!! Yes, He can and will take care of us in the good times and in the bad times. David so often in the Psalms proclaimed God’s provision. For example Psalm 145:18 The LORD is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth. 19 He grants the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them. 20 The LORD protects all those who love him, but he destroys the wicked.
God is always ready to care for us. Even when it may seem like He’s not listening or not protecting or not moving fast enough…He knows what He’s doing! He always has everything working according to his plan. I want to tell you a story to confirm that truth in your heart. I want to share a true story of how God takes care of us.
Our story deals with our New Life Whitehall Middle School and High School students going to camp. The New Life Student Ministry is called Impact. To send our Impact students to camp this year was going to cost around $8000, as we originally had roughly 30 students going. With various donations from many New Lifers, we had collected a significant portion of the amount needed.
We didn’t have quite enough so our plan was for the students to do fund-raising activities to raise the rest of what was needed. They planned to do a bake sale on Father’s Day. A week or so before the event I met with Kristina and Ed our Impact student directors, to discuss final details and make sure we were ready to make it happen! One of the things we discussed was how much money we needed to pay the costs in full. We did some calculating in our heads, some back and forth, added in some windage and came up with around $1400.
Father’s Day came and the Impact students worked very hard, were excited to do something like this, they all cooperated well, worked together and pulled off a great bake sale. I was so very proud of all the students, they really did a great job! Before they began, we gathered to pray and Kristina specifically prayed for God to bless every penny given. To bless those who would give and use every penny for his glory!
Folks arrived at church and began to buy baked goods from the Impact student table. At the end of the day Kristina opened the cash box and counted the money they’d raised. She counted $978.05, which is a real solid amount to raise with one bake sale, a great amount!! I really enjoyed my $30 cupcakes!
Once she’d counted the money they’d raised, she got on the spreadsheet and did an accurate tally of what we really needed to raise to pay the entire bill. She discovered that we didn’t need $1400 as we had thought beforehand. What we needed to complete the task was $978.00! Let’s stop right here and be amazed at what God did. I can just see him sitting there on the throne with a big smile on his face. You guys didn’t even know how much you needed but I did! You needed $978.00, I gave you $978.05! Let me ask you can God get you a nickel? You bet He can! When we’re faithful to him, he will always be faithful to us! God will take care of you in every situation. Trust his plan, trust his ways, and see what he can do!
The story doesn’t end there! That same day, Father’s Day Sunday, two people let Kristina know they wanted to pay for one full tuition for a student. On the next day Monday, one more student joined the trip…paid for! On Tuesday, another student joined the trip…paid for! Another New Lifer that week donated $500 to pay for the fuel for the bus…gasoline paid for! Then just this past Sunday a New Lifer came to me and said Pastor Claude I put money into the offering to pay for one Impact student going to camp. I said hey great, thank you. As I said that, I thought well it’s all paid for but we’ll take the donation and use it some way. Monday, we discovered there was one student who we thought was covered but wasn’t…paid for!!
In every case God gave us the money before we knew what we needed or before we even knew we needed it! Is God good…absolutely. Is God awesome…Absolutely! When we consider how much God loves us and cares for us all I can say is Wow! Say it with me…Wow! Say it backwards…Wow! Say it upside down…Mom!