He made me do it....

Maybe I should title this one "I thought I heard Him correctly".  When Carol, Jeanne, and I started this venture in September of 2010, the leap of faith was based on what I believed God was directing me/us to do with reference to investing our lives in a new ministry direction.

That was a big life-change for us and has proven to be a wonderful life-change, though there have been times of doubt.  But there have not been many doubts nor have they been long-lived.

God speaks into smaller, shorter term arenas, as well.  Just last week, I was doing personal financial accounting when I saw the shortfall and wondered if it were time to tap the retirement resources to make sure our bills stay current.  You see, we've not been late or missed a bill since God called us to The Basic Idea Ministries, Inc.  That takes some miracles from the Lord.  Sometimes I forget to count my blessings; consequently, I begin to panic or, at least, to worry.  When I saw the potential impact of this lack of funds about to hit our personal finances, I heard inside my heart the message, "Don't move any funds."

Of course, you check to see if what you heard was just your own mind, some clandestine action from the devil to cause you to fail, or perhaps it was just indigestion.  Or perhaps, I could be hearing the voice of the God Who lives in me by His Spirit.  I could not shake the thought or the feeling of confidence in God's provision.  I think this may be called faith.

I shut the computer down and told God I would trust Him to meet our needs another way than the one I had considered, that is, tapping our retirement. 

Within a few days after this directive from God, I had the opportunity to meet with Intimate Life Ministry staff.  We discussed an idea that had helped me while at North Point Ministries, as director of Care Network.  It resonated with the ILM staff .  It made me feel great that I could be of service to some people who'd given me life-changing help for almost 20 years.  As Jeanne and I were leaving to come back to Atlanta, two of the ministry leaders revealed that they'd come to a conclusion separately to help our ministry financially.

They handed me a check for the second largest single donation that has come to TBI is 20 months of our existence as a non-profit.  I was and am very grateful.  On the way to the airport I was struck with the awareness that God had "done it again".  He had provided, but this time He actually let me know ahead of time that it was coming soon.  He did not reveal from whom it would come, but that it WOULD come.  So, do you see how faithful God is and that He keeps His word.  Philippians 4:19 is the written word, and His message to me last week was His written word applied to my current need.  How cool is that!  The God of the universe knows my name and my needs.

I guess you could say, "He made me do it...., He made me trust Him", and I am glad!