How do I even start to tell about what God did in my world this evening? I started off before our youth group meeting feeling a mix of excitement and disappointment—an odd combination to be sure. I was excited because I love seeing the kids come out on Friday nights to the youth group and studying the Bible and connecting with each other. I was also disappointed for a variety of reasons, all of which link back to the symptomatic smallness of my faith.
- Financial resources we need but don’t have
- People not committing and serving when it’s so needed in our community
- Kids who had just let me know they weren’t coming tonight
So, I was feeling a little low and talking my concerns over with Andie, Pat, and Heather before the start of youth group. No one gave any answers or berated me for feeling the way I did, just silently listened and silently prayed. I know they prayed because unknown to me at the time within the next fifteen minutes God was going to show up and show off in a dramatic and affirming way.
One of the big concerns that I had shared with them was that I didn’t know how we were going to rent the theater as we had hoped to for our Easter Sunday service, or if we even should be trying to do that because the commitment has been so slim among our little congregation.
LESS THAN FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER I WAS HOLDING A TOTALLY UNEXPECTED CHECK TO PAY THE FULL AMOUNT OF THE RENT FOR THE THEATER!!!
In addition there was a commitment of help in the process as well.
As I had wondered if we would have more than one or two students join us for youth tonight with the number of kids who had messaged me that they were going to be involved elsewhere tonight. By the time they all arrived we had 11 youth and four adults present for the evening! We missed a number of the kids who had been coming, but we had two new faces, and before we concluded for the night one young lady had believed in Jesus and become a Christian!!
We have been tired, burdened, ill, frustrated, discouraged, and more….but God showed up tonight to remind us that we CAN TRUST HIM and did things in our midst this evening to affirm that we CAN TOTALLY BELIEVE HIM.
Sometimes when God shows up in the midst of our life circumstances He does that to show off, and I am so glad that He did that tonight.
It’s been a long week, but if all that I have faced in the course of this week was to lead me to this point I count it all worth it.
James 1:2-4
2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
4 And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Blessings!
Pastor Dave
bigdbentley 
What a powerful message. Like you, I have been feeling a bit low and disappointed, but God opened my heart to a wonderful realization. If we keep things simple, he will come through for us. I was just thinking tonight about how God keeps his eye on the tiny sparrow..one of the many of his glorious creations..like the sparrow, he watches over us. How wonderful it is that he can fill our hearts with such joy, while a moment ago we were down and blue. The joy he makes me feel will never cease to amaze me. I will never take for granted the uncondtional love he gives to me. Even when I have doubts, he is right by my side, and if I can pull myself up and open my eyes to the light of his love, I know he will never leave my side. How can you feel down after knowing that?
Praise the Lord. How wonderful you received that wonderful donation and that a young lady, has now given herself to Him and has become a Christian. God will perservere and will turn a discouraged heart to pure joy.
Thank you for sharing.
Great article. God does show up for the pure of heart. For those who keep believing against the odds.
Who in the end beat those odds.
God does show up!
Keep believing!
You know for the past few days i have been encountering a situation whereby someone was belittling me for so long, or rather find a way to pull my spirit down, especially with a knowledge that i don’t like fighting back… So i got so angry to a point where i did not want to hit back because what was inside me was more, and should i have opened my mouth it was going to be very bad. so yesterday i was talking with God and praying about it, Telling him that ” Your child is emotionally abusing me, I am unable to deal with it”… And because God is love, He heard my cry.Today the very same person tried to do the same and someone from the back ” out of nowhere” said to him ” Stop doing that, because if i do it to you, you wont like it”. Ever since, he has humbled himself and is also aware that if it comes back to him ,it wont be nice at all