“I was very inspired by a teaching I heard recently. The teacher detailed how the Lord brought him through a season where he learned complete reliance in him for financial provision, through people and amazing circumstances. The Lord has been inviting me to test him on the subject of provision over the past six months or so, and as my wife and I talked through it, we decided that we would not only say that we trusted him, but that we would take some practical steps to invite the Lord into our finances through giving. On a Monday evening, my wife and I decided that we would take one of our paychecks, the one that usually went to savings, and for the next three months, June, July, and August, we would give that paycheck away to someone who we felt the Lord putting on our heart. We both got pretty excited when asking the Lord where he wanted to sow his resources. Our one guideline was that we wanted to make an investment that brought more of God’s kingdom. We had some time to think and pray about it, since the next paycheck was still several days away.

The very next morning, I received a phone call from my brother. He told me that he and his wife had been thinking about it for the past two months and that they wanted to give my wife and I a car, instead of selling it. They thought it would be a blessing to us, since we only had one car between the two of us. I could tell we were right in the middle of God’s heart! We had not even given anything away yet! And the Lord was so quick to respond to our giving initiative! What a fun thing!

The following week, my boss gave me an envelope, and said thanks for all your hard work. Later, I opened the envelope to find a check for $1,000! I had never received a bonus like this before. If it would have been a smaller amount, I might have been able to justify earning the bonus, but this was completely unexpected! I could tell that something was beginning to shift in my spirit, because the first reaction to seeing the check was, “Wow! Amazing! Who is this money suppose to go to? How can we advance the kingdom of God with this large sum of money?”

The Lord is taking my family on an amazing journey. He is inviting us to say no to the overarching theme I have seen in our culture that says, we provide for ourselves. The Lord is inviting us to give him our rocks and rubble and receive his gemstones. Provision is the area that God says, test me and see if I don’t open my storehouses! The thing that I am most excited about is that as we continue to trust him and give ourselves to him, he entrusts us with more of his kingdom. That’s what I am after, and I am excited to see where this is all headed! ”