It Was Always There

Check’s In The Mail!

There was a time in my life, after I’d started a new job, that I wasn’t getting paid. One week, then two went by without pay. By week three, I was making calls. You’ll have to wait for the second pay cycle. Week four rolled around, and I was desperate for cash. The check’s in the mail. We sent it out. You should have direct deposit by the third cycle. It will take seven weeks to stop the checks and reissue. I was beside myself.

I was calling, digging, and trying to talk to anyone who would listen. It was an extremely stressful time. I was praying every day – God, you know my situation. I know you have my back, but I don’t understand what’s happening here! I had bills piling up and businesses calling for their money. Finally, I was able to figure out the problem; my checks were being sent to a former address. I took a trip to my old place, and a teenager answered the door. He thought he remembered my name, but Mom wasn’t there, so he didn’t know where it might be. I left my information.

No call, so I went back again, and this time, the mother opened the door with a smile, Heather?  She had both my checks, she said. I could have hugged her; I was so relieved.

He Goes Ahead

I would love to tell you I was the perfect Christian in this situation. I never doubted, I wasn’t afraid, I had complete faith the whole time, but that would be a lie. I was panicked. I was stressed out and had to remind myself not just day by day, but minute by minute that it would be ok – that God would provide.

The thing is, I was waiting for Him to provide for me in the future some sometime when He got around to it, when He felt I should get it. I wasn’t realizing that He had already gone before me. The money was there the whole time – the provision was just waiting for me to come pick it up. God provides for our needs right on time – He goes ahead of us to make sure that it’s there when we need it.

It Was Always There

I had missed the point. God isn’t arbitrary – He’s intentional. He knew my financial situation before my check was ever sent. He knew that there would be a mix-up, and he went ahead and spoke to the lady at my old place. When she gave me my checks, she told me that she had been about to throw them in the trash, but something stopped her. She noticed something on them that made her pause and decided to hold onto them. She was trying to figure out where to send them because she felt they were important. I wasn’t waiting on God to provide – it was always there.

The experience reframed my thinking. When I pray now, I don’t just pray for some distant, nebulous future thing; I thank Him for already providing for my family and me. I thank Him that He has already gone ahead and made a way, whether I can see it yet or not. I thank Him and claim His promises like a check in hand waiting to be cashed. When I pray, I thank Him for forgiving my sins – not in the future – but two thousand years ago. Because He already went ahead of me, before I was born, He had me in mind.

So, let’s thank God today for what He has already done in our lives, our children’s lives, and our parents’, friends’, and loved ones’ lives. Thank Him for the way He has already made for us, and thank Him for the provision He has already given because it was always there.