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I use an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of and forecast our household budget and expenses. Sometime last year, I started declaring at the top of each month’s sheet, “GOD WILL PROVIDE!” Then I list our income and expenses by date. You know how a budget works.

After I balance each month with my bank statement, am I the only one who still does that? I make the following declaration: GOD DID PROVIDE!

I admit that our budget has tightened with the current expenses of remodeling our house and buying some new furniture. So when God started whispering to April and me to be benevolent for a particular cause, my first thought was, “Ouch!” That is going to make life a little more uncomfortable for a bit. It’s kind of like putting on an old pair of jeans after months of not wearing them, and you realize you have gained ten pounds or so! “Ouch!”

Now, April and I can do our part and not eat out like we did last month, and we can do what we can to keep our utility bills down, but that is only going to help so much. But here’s the thing: I know God. I know how He works, and if we continue to tithe and live in a way pleasing to him, God will provide! I don’t know how, but He always does!

I don’t have to know how He is going to do it, but I know that He knows what we need, and our heavenly Father, who loves us, will take care of our needs.

The exciting part of where the money went is it has the potential to change a person’s life for eternity. And their changed life may very well change the lives of countless others. I feel honored that God would speak to our hearts and allow us to be a part of his plan and the great love story that He is writing in that individual’s life.

That individual had a need, and at some point, they probably had no clue as to how God would provide for them. I hope they never forget that He came through in the last hour.

I tell you the truth: living with God and for God is the most fun you will ever have and the greatest adventure of your life. I hope, if you never have, you will accept him and his Son, Jesus, into your life and start down the road of faith. Faith pleases God.

April and I have faith that God will provide!

But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out]. Heb. 11:6 (AMPC)

“If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Mat. 6:30-33 (MSG)

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