God moves in the little things

Like I have stated before, this will not become a diary for me. However, if God moves, I feel compelled to bring it up.

I recently started working at a new job. This job was an answer to prayer in ways that are too numerous to list. But, there are two examples of God at work in this.

(1) Back in August, I sent a request out to a number of men in the church for prayer and advice on a few points, one of them being our budget. We were about $650 short every month. This new job, with the Lord at work, is exactly that amount more per month.

(2) When I was offered the job, the new company's needs were immediate. They would have been perfectly happy with me going into the current emplyer and quitting on the spot. Understandably so. I have taken over the finances for them and they are in need of help. However, I felt very strongly that I was to at least make myself available for a two-week notice at the current job. Even after getting advice to ignore that feeling and just quit, I had to follow my convictions and what I felt the Lord was prompting me to do. I felt that I represented more than myself. I felt that since my co-workers at the old job knew I was a Christian, this would represent Christ.

I stuck to my conviction and decided to press on with the offer to work a notice. IN the end, God honored this and I left the old company with good relationships and started the new job on the right foot. This is in no way to be misunderstood as me giving myself a spiritual pat on the back. I was shaken to my core over this issue and did not know how this would play out. But, a conviction is a conviction. We have to stand by them.

My son saw this. He recognized the struggle that mom and dad were going through and even offered a prayer that was spot on, with no prompting from us. I am as happy about that than anything. The Lord allowed me to model Himself to my son. There are few things that can bring this sort of joy to a man.

John

How great is our God!

This is from Brent Roberts:

CLICK THE TITLE TO LINK TO THE ROBERT'S BLOG.

Kerri and I were given the opportunity to share our ministry at Blue Cross Blue Shield's Christian Luncheon Club (CLC) Wednesday afternoon. This is a fairly large group of believers who get together on a monthly basis to share testimonies and have fellowship. After we showed our video and shared about God's calling for us to go to Zambia, Steve VonFange, who is one of the members of the leadership team, came up and sort-of cut me off. He said, "Brent has no idea what I'm about to do, but I need to say some things to you." Then he asked me to take a seat. He began to confess that he had not wanted us to come share that day because it was the last CLC of the year and the subject matter was just heavy. Then he told how he had been able to spend 2 hours alone with God this past weekend and how he was completely convicted about his attitude. He looked at me and Kerri, while chocking back tears, and said he was sorry. Then Steve said that as God taught him during that time, he was led to Hebrews 11. He shared how in reading about these men of faith his natural tendency was to look at their failures. But he was overwhelmed at how God looked at their faith and saw them in a completely different light - He saw them as righteous! Then he said he was led to Acts 2 where the scripture talks about all the believers being together in one mind...selling their possessions and giving to anyone who had need. Steve then began to challenge the group. He said, "Brent and Kerri have stepped out in faith to obey God's calling to move their family to Africa and we need to follow them." He said, "I believe that God is calling the CLC to fully fund Brent and Kerri Roberts today!" (At this point we both just started crying!) It was obvious that Steve was in the Spirit because he was speaking with great zeal and our spirits were leaping as he challenged the group to do whatever they had to do - maybe even sell some stuff -to give the money that we need to go to Zambia. And he said something else that was very specific, he said that they needed to make it happen BY FRIDAY!


After his talk, Steve had us come up and asked those who would support us to gather around and pray for us, which they did. It was awesome and we were completely overwhelmed! As Kerri was talking to some of them afterward, she told them that the night before we had asked our community group to pray for this meeting. Shawn Hevel, one of our communty group members, prayed, "God we ask you to fully fund the Roberts, and we ask you to do it tomorrow." What Kerri has also been praying over the last few months is that if God's timing is for us to go in February, then He would have us fully funded by November - giving us time to adequately plan to leave the country. Maybe, just maybe, God is at work in all of this : )


Thursday morning when I got into work, there was a voice message on my phone that had been sent out to everyone who had attended the CLC meeting as well as everyone else who had been involved over the past year. Steve said again that he felt the Lord was telling him that the Roberts needed to be fully funded by this Friday by members of the CLC. We are completely blown away!! We don't know exactly what God will do, but enough has happened over the past few days & weeks that we are very excited! (We will not receive a financial update from ACTION until November 1) Please pray that those who were moved by God on Wednesday will be obedient to act, and pray with us that we will indeed be fully funded!


God has convicted us and challenged our lack of faith! He has reminded us that this venture is not of us, but of Him. He has reminded us that He is a great God who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above anything that we can ask, think or even imagine! We are so thankful for your prayers, so thankful for Steve's obedience to get up and share what God had done in him, and SO thankful for God's sovereign hand on our lives!