TEACHING US FOR THE THINGS TO COME

God is doing amazing things in the lives of my young men this summer. Patrick, as you know, is in Swaziland serving with an  Adventures in Missions team . I can only imagine the many things he is learning and experiencing but won't know the details til he gets back on August 2nd.

David, on the other hand, is living and serving right alongside me here at We Will Go. I have the honor of watching him grow as he works with volunteers, leads worship, practices his guitar, pushes his siblings to excel, and interacts with needy neighbors who come to our door. I have also gotten to witness God do a really cool thing that has boosted David's faith. Mine, too.

For the past month or so, David has had a yucky stye in the inside corner of his right eye. He's been treating it with a warm washcloth every day. It was getting smaller and seemed to be getting better til he woke up yesterday morning and it had turned black! The red nasty blob was now a black nasty blob.

After researching the condition online and learning that he needed to seek medical advice ASAP, we sent him off to our favorite family clinic. The nurse said he needed to go to an eye doctor as it was something she'd rarely ever seen or dealt with. So, it was on to a specialist who immediately said he needed to have it removed. He no longer does surgery so an appointment was set up for David to go back in on Thursday afternoon when one of the other doctors has surgery hours. At first, we were told there were no openings, but the doctor insisted that it needed to be done soon and so we were told to come and be prepared to wait as a work-in.

Let me tell you, this was not happy news.

First, David was really nervous about having his eye worked on. We all have our things we hate, his eye being fooled with is his.

Second, we are sucking air where finances are concerned this month. Between a bunch of other medical bills that all came due, two vehicles that required pricey repairs, two out-of-town trips, outfitting Patrick for his mission trip, etc, etc. we were out of money way before we'd even reached the half-way point of the month.

So, we prayed. We'd already been praying for financial provision and protection, now we started praying for David's eye. We thought, "wouldn't it be nice if the Lord healed it up and David didn't even need the procedure?"

And that's just what God did.

This morning, David woke up and the black blob had fallen off and his eye was as good as new.

The need for surgery was gone! He was healed!

God gave us a double provision! David didn't have to have the procedure he was so dreading and God spared us from having to lay out even more money to cover medical bills.

I know in the years to come as we move to Africa, take a huge income cut, and are surrounded by more needs than we can ever begin to meet on our own, we're going to rely on God moving in amazing ways.  I'm thankful for His loving and gentle Spirit that is teaching us to trust Him now, even when a part of me often doubts He'll actually do the things for me I know He is capable of.  I am thankful that His faithfulness doesn't rely on me having a perfect, super faith.  He is teaching me to think back on the times of provision and hide them away in my heart so that in the days to come, when things look impossible, I will cling to the fact that nothing is impossible with my God.

Nothing.

He doesn't always do it the way we want or when we want, but through it all, He is there loving us and doing what He knows is best for us and the plans and purposes He is bringing to pass.

I need to rest in that.

Always.