INTRODUCTION

Our God is an awesome God! A little while ago, I was going to a revival and God did something really awesome that I just have to share it with you.

A LITTLE GAS

During the summer months of 2005, the church we were attending was having a revival. A man named David had come to the church with a message and then held nightly meetings for weeks. My family and I attended because for the first time someone was not just talking about walking in the Holy Spirit and operating in the manifestations of the Spirit, but was actually training us. He was literally taking our hand and walking us through how to move in the Spirit. It was an amazing time and I grew tremendously from the experience and my walk with God has never been the same. It was during this revival that my spiritual eyes were opened and the things that I have seen since then still blow my mind.

During this conference we did have a personal miracle happen. My paycheck during this time came on Wednesday. However, on Monday the low fuel light came on in our car. This meant that we had about two gallons of gas left in the tank which would provide us about forty more miles of driving on average. However, to drive to church and back was about fifteen miles and to drive back and forth to work was almost fifty miles. This meant that from Monday afternoon, I had to drive home from work, then to church and home, and then back to work and home and then to the church again and home before there would be money in the bank. The total mileage was somewhere around one hundred miles not counting waiting at lights and for the train and other things that burn gas. We knew that God wanted us to go to the revival and therefore we prayed that God would show up. In all honesty, I prayed that God would provide the money to get some gas, but as Monday night went on, I didn’t receive any money.

Tuesday morning came and I decided to go to work and see if I would get any money from there. I had surmised that I had just enough gas to get to work, but not enough to get home. I worked the entire day and no one brought me any money. Feeling a little discouraged, I sat in the car at the end of the day praying to God that he would do something. After waiting and praying and not receiving an answer, I decided to drive as far home as I could see what happened when the gas ran out. I was thinking that perhaps God wanted to get my money from someone who would take pity on me broken down on the side of road.

To my amazement, I made it all the way home. It was at this moment that I looked at the gas gage and not the low fuel light. The fuel was for sure low, but it was not out. What I mean is that the low fuel light indicator comes on just as the needle hits the top side of the white dash designator for Empty and then the needle drops down below the white dash when we are out of gas. However, the needle was still sitting on the top side of the white dash, where it would be if the low fuel light had just come on and not had been on for well over forty miles already. I was amazed, but had not truly realized what happened yet.

I entered my home and ate a quick dinner. My wife and I spoke about the car and the low fuel problem and what I had noticed about the fuel gage. We decided that God must be doing something and that we would go to the revival. We drove to church and home that night and the needle never moved off of the top side of the white dash. Truly amazing especially the way that old car would go through gas!

Wednesday morning my paycheck had arrived in the bank and the first thing I did was fill up the car. The fuel gage still had not moved even after all that driving. To my astonishment, when I filled the tank, I discovered that there had still been two gallons of gas in the car. Remember, it was at the two-gallon mark that the low fuel light would come on and I never had before or after this time any problems with the fuel gage or the light. The only answer was that while I was looking for money to buy gas, God was constantly putting gas in my tank for me so that I could continue to both go to work and to the revival with my family. He truly is an awesome God.

SCRIPTURE

I asked of God and he provided. But you might be asking why did I not get what I asked for. There is a reason.

I ask God for money and he provided gas. The reason is what I really needed was the spiritual meat that was given at the revival and not necessarily a few dollars. I needed to be able to get to both work and the revival and God provided. In essence, I asked God for stone and he gave me bread. This does not mean that God doesn’t answer some prayers with money. But what he does is answers each prayer with the perfect gift or perfect answer to our need.

CONCLUSION

If you have not made the decision to let Jesus Christ become part of your life, do so today. Jesus promised that when you accept him, he would never leave or forsake you. In other words, he will always be right there with you no matter what you are going through.

Until Next Time,

I want to thank the great guys over at My Life Ministries (http://mylifeministries.org/) for encouraging me and hosting this blog. If you haven’t done so yet, hop over to http://mylifeministries.org/ and take a look around. Join the forums and become part of the family.

Also, if you have a testimony, email it to me at testify {at} fireknights {dot} net. I would love to hear it and I may just post it here on the blog.

INTRODUCTION

God recently reminded me in prayer of a time when my family and I were homeless and how God moved to change that situation. Being a powerful testimony to following God, I thought I would share it with everyone. I apologize for the length, but this is a really powerful testimony to the power of God.

IN THE TWINKLING OF AN EYE

After the beginning of the year 2000 when none of the computers had failed, I found myself praying and asking God for direction. I distinctly heard in prayer that God wanted me to move. However, instead of waiting to find out when or where, I jumped ahead and moved my family to upstate New York.

I had many reasons for selecting there to move. First off, we had family in the area. Second, we had a promise of a place to stay. And finally, I had a promise of a job. It all looked good, but as you will see, it was not. The reason is because if I had bothered to wait on God, I would have found out that he did not want me to move there. When I did move my family to New York, I stepped out of God’s will for my life and my family.

I left my good job at Motorola, loaded up the U-Haul and headed out with my wife and two daughters (age 3 and 5) in tow. We were going to a little town called Broadalbin, which lay about an hour west and slightly north of Albany, the state capital. All the while, smiling and singing to myself how spiritual I was being because I took a step out in faith and was following what God wanted me to do. Of course, I didn’t spend any further time in prayer because I had already gotten the message and there was really no time with all that was going on to pray more.

It was a short four-hour drive to where we would be staying; however, we quickly ran into problems. The place that had to stay at immediately became unavailable. Well, this was no problem for a man of God. We will just put our stuff in temporary storage and stay in a hotel for a brief period before the paychecks start rolling in. Which is what we did. We had some money in the bank, not much, but enough for several days at a hotel. I thought everything was fine.

I contacted the person whom I thought was a hiring manager of some electronics company. I discovered during our conversation that I was mistaken. He was not a manager nor did he have hiring power. He was a technical recruiter and he was interested in floating my resume to see what might happen. I told him I needed a job and go ahead and send my resume out.

At this point, two of the reasons that I moved to New York had fallen through and I sat in a hotel with my family unsure of what the future would hold or how I would pay for anything. Here I made another mistake. Instead of seeking God’s will, I arrogantly stated that God would have to bless me because I stepped out in faith and was doing exactly what he told me to do. This was not correct, but my arrogance that I was doing the right and Godly thing had blinded me to seeing the truth of the situation. It didn’t blind my wife, but I wasn’t really listening to her either. Major mistakes on top of my initial mistake did not make our situation better.

Several days later, we ran out of money for the hotel. We talked with our family and discovered that one of my wife’s aunts had an apartment we could use. The catch was that she had already signed a lease for someone to move in about a month from this point. It was not a permanent place to stay, but it was some place to hang our hat for a short time. And again, I was walking around like I was a super spiritual man on a mission and a calling from God and somewhere, some how God was going to come through.

While the apartment was great, there were problems. First off, the kids were sleeping on mattresses on the floor. My wife and I were sleeping on a couch. However, the biggest problem was that in anticipation of the place we were supposedly going to be able to stay at, we signed our oldest daughter into the local school. We cheated in telling the school that we were staying at an address that we were not actually staying at to keep her in school. While this was a lie, we had to get up early every day and drive to that address in order for her to take the bus to school in the morning and then return when the bus dropped her off in order to keep up appearances and keep her in school.

After a short time, I was beginning to feel a bit beaten down. So, we decided to find a local church. After all, if God had called us to this area, there had to be a church somewhere to go to. We find a place and decided on Saturday night to get up and go in the morning. When we woke, there was six inches of snow on the ground. This did not stop us as we made the drive and God showed up. A couple in the church happened to have a rental property that they were going to let us stay at. Of course, this was another temporary situation, but I was happy that my family had another place to stay.

At this point, the job search was not going well at all. In fact, without any money, my wife went out and found a job at the local Big Kmart in order to have some income. I broadened my search, but no one wanted to hire an Engineer because they feared that I would leave for better paying jobs which in all honesty I probably would have done.

Things were bleak and money was really tight. At this point, I told everyone that I was on a fast down to at most one meal a day in order to hear from God. The reality was that we just didn’t have the money to continue to feed my family and me. So, I fasted for almost three months time. In that time, God was trying to speak to me, but I was being stubborn and standing on my arrogant concept that I was right about the move to New York. I remember one conversation with the Associate Pastor of the church we were attending. He told me flat out that he believed that God was calling us somewhere else in the in world and that I needed to be open to moving where God wanted. I was so upset with him that I almost stopped going to church. But I still continued.

After close to four months, I finally reached my end. My kids were sleeping on mattresses on the floor. My wife and I were sleeping on mattresses on the floor. My wife was working and extremely frustrated with me. While thankful for the place to stay, we did have to fight with bugs as well as how we were going to pay the sky high electric bill or any other bill. I could not find a single job in the entire area or even in the Albany area. I was mad at God because he obviously let me down.

Finally, I got down on my knees and prayed to God. I told him that I could take no more. I was at my end. I had heard messages about God’s plans to prosper us and that he was working all things in our life for the good. But I saw none of it. I told God that it was more then I could bear. I told him that I will serve him all my days but as far as I was concerned he could just take me and my family now because I couldn’t bare to look in my daughter’s eyes any more and tell her that the meager feast was all we had when she said she was still hungry. I couldn’t take my wife working so hard when she had worked to put me through college and she was supposed to be able to be home with the kids. I couldn’t take any of it any more. I told God that whatever he wanted he could do. I didn’t know it then, but something broke in the spiritual realm the moment I said that prayer.

A very short time later, like about an hour, I got a call from a friend of mine whom I had not seen in close to four years. When I left Plattsburgh for New Jersey to go to college, his wife entered the Navy. At this time, she had gotten out and had gotten a job in Dallas, TX area. He told me of the immense amount of jobs in the area and how I would be easily able to get a job. Well, my heart jumped and was excited. I could feel something move in my spirit about the potential and decided to pursue this and see where it would lead. After getting encouragement from my friend, I went online and searched from jobs while updating my resume at the usual online places. Within twenty-four hours, I have something like forty calls for jobs in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) area. I could not believe it.

With all this excitement, the enemy was quick to strike. I began to take calls and talk about a possible trip to the DFW area when our landlords stopped by to tell us that we had less then two days, something like thirty-six hours, to vacate the premises. This was a shock, but what could we do. We contacted our family and told them the situation. Vicky’s older brother took us in at this time so that we had a place. The reason he hesitated before was because in his little home lived seven people already and we were adding four more to that. However, he was insistent that we had a place to stay.

Calls continued to come in including a call for Motorola of Fort Worth. This was of particular interest because I had worked for them before. Everything was looking great, but we had a problem. I was in upstate New York and the interviews were in the DFW area. Some of the companies were working on plans, but I knew from prayer that this is what God wanted. I knew deep inside that this was finally what God had originally called me to when he told us to move. I had a peace that past understanding even though everything around me was a whirlwind. I had a knowing inside that it would all work out even though nothing seemed to be working out. It wasn’t arrogance this time, but the presence of God and his Holy Spirit.

My grandfather stepped in and loaned us the money to get to Texas and back. Although, he was not sure if we were really following God this time because of what had transpired over the previous four months. But he did loan us the money. We left the kids with Vicky’s older brother and took off for Texas and our interviews.

On our way to Texas, I had several phone interviews and lined up face-to-face interviews for when I arrived. While traveling through Tennessee, our thermostat went out. Not able to find a service station right away, we drove for some time with the heat on and the windows down with it over ninety outside and about ninety percent humidity. Finally, we noticed a building with the word service stenciled on the side. We pulled in only to find out that this building only services trucks. They directed us down the road to a service station and for the first time in my life the directions included the phrase, “And you will leave the pavement, but keep on going about two miles.” We did just that and found a small run down service station that was out in the middle of nowhere. As I looked at this place all I could think was that this was the type of place they make horror movies out of. However, we didn’t have another choice.

We walked into the customer area and spoke with the nicest elderly lady that I think I have ever met. As we talk, her husband worked on the car. She asked us where we were going and we told her all about our story. She was very sweet and a comfort to us as we waited. Now, to understand what happened next, you must understand that my wife had worked as a bookkeeper for a service station. In her mind, she is adding up the bill of parts and labor. There was a sign on the wall that declared how much they charged per hour, but I have forgotten how much it was. Needless to say, it was at least $30 per hour but most likely more. The husband worked on our car for almost four hours. When we were presented with the bill, we expected the worst, but it was under $100. In addition, my wife knowing the service industry was able to see that they only charged us what they paid for the thermostat part. On top of that, our car never ran better after we left the place. I truly wonder if they were angels or just really awesome God loving people.

We arrive back at the interstate and have a choice to make. Even though the repairs were cheap, it was enough to break our bank. We had enough money to make it to Texas or to return home, but not both. This was not an easy decision. After all, if we got to Texas and nothing happened, what would we do? How would we get back home and get back to our kids. However, there were no jobs back in New York for me. And both of us believed that God told us to go. So, we said a prayer and headed for Texas with the Texas or bust attitude. Of course, this time we had God on our side and there was no way he was going to let us down.

We get to Texas and my friend puts us up in his apartment. We slept on his couches and I am sure that we put him and his wife out, but he never even batted an eye at helping us. He was a true friend and I am very thankful for his friendship.

We had left New York on a Wednesday and arrived in Texas on Saturday. I had an interview with Motorola on Wednesday. I also had other interviews, but this one I was excited about. I went to the interview and was feeling good all day long. As I left the building, they were putting the finishing touches on the offer for a job. Not only did they reinstate everything from my previous position, but gave me a raise. I signed the letter as soon as I got it on Thursday and handed it back to them. As I was walking out to the car, my wife received a call from their relocation department.

What happened next was a whirlwind of God moving and changing everything in our life. We were flown back to meet the movers and get our children. We were able to see and say goodbye to everyone while we were there because they gave us a rental car with unlimited mileage. Furthermore, when we returned to Texas, they put us up in a furnished apartment until our stuff arrived and our local apartment was ready.

In short, in the twinkling of an eye (which was less then one month), God turned everything around. I had a job and an apartment and my family was very happy. Sure, people were sad to see us go, but my wife and children were happy. And I was right with God again, which was the most important part.

SCRIPTURE

When God told me to move, I didn’t wait on him to find out that he wanted me to move to Texas. Instead, I stepped out of his perfect will for my life and my families and moved to New York. When I did that, I opened my family and I up to disaster because I walked out of the protection that comes from being in God’s will. In the disaster that I created, I was crying out for God to come and save me the way I wanted. God was telling me that he was more then willing to rescue me, but that I had to trust him and go where he was calling me. And until, I got right with God and aligned myself with his will, I was going to stay there. But once I did get in his will, everything moved at light speed to take my family and me out of that horrible situation and restore to us the lifestyle that God originally wanted for us.

I would like to encourage everyone that if God is telling you something it is for you good. You may not see it now, but he really does have your best at heart and he really is out to prosper you and give you a hope and a future. Trust him and follow in his perfect will.

CONCLUSION

I really can’t stress enough the importance of trusting God and knowing that his is and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him (Hebrews 11:6).

Until Next Time,

I want to thank the great guys over at My Life Ministries (http://mylifeministries.org/) for encouraging me and hosting this blog. If you haven’t done so yet, hop over to http://mylifeministries.org/ and take a look around. Join the forums and become part of the family.

Also, if you have a testimony, email it to me at testify {at} fireknights {dot} net. I would love to hear it and I may just post it here on the blog.