Trusting God for Provision: When God Filled Every Empty Bay
Today's testimony is brought to you by our Heavenly Father.
Today, I want to talk about a memory of God's provision when I had my auto shop. There are so many, and a lot that I've forgotten, so remembering one is a real blessing.
I remember having a slow week and month. It was particularly stressful because some big bills were due soon. Even though I had a small shop, I had about $20k a month that needed to be covered just for the basic bills. This excluded parts, supplies, and other variables.
I was blessed to have regular lunch meetings with a brother of mine. He encouraged me and made sure that I was relying on the Lord for provision. Owning a business and relying on the Lord is tough because most of the advice you get in the industry is: work harder, spend more, be at the shop more. This was the opposite of what I felt the Lord was calling me to do, and it really created confusion and forced me to constantly seek the Lord. I was convinced He was the only way to succeed.
Trusting God for provision wasn't always easy, especially when the bills kept coming and the work wasn't.
On the day I remember, my brother and I met at a local diner and had lunch. I complained and whined that I didn't know how I was going to pay the bills that month. There just wasn't enough work, and we hadn't had any work come in all day.
One of the toughest parts was the battle of keeping the doors open and keeping the people I had working with me paid. At that time, I had no way of making either happen, and it was breaking me. I had people relying on me and families relying on them.
As we were talking about this, my brother reminded me that they were not relying on me; this was God's shop! He was their provider, not me.
After a lot of reassurance that God would do what He wanted to do whether I fretted or not, my brother gave me a prophetic word.
"When you get back to your shop you will have work."
We had zero appointments on the books for that day. The phone wasn't ringing, and the people I had working with me were just standing around waiting for work.
As I pulled back into my parking spot across from the shop, I saw a car blocking the entrance. I walked up, and as the inside of the shop came into view, I saw cars in all the open bays!
The service writer I had at the time said they all came in one after another, and not one was turned away.
The rest of the week was the same way. Appointments were made, some people just showed up, and the next thing I knew, we were paying the bills, paychecks went out, and the Lord firmly established where our hope comes from.
This was a huge thing for us at that time. There was no other help available! We had nowhere else to turn, and when I finally realized that and accepted that the Lord was it, He blessed us.
Looking back, I realize that trusting God for provision wasn't about knowing how He was going to make it happen. It was about remembering who our provider was all along.
It really does help to remember the times the Lord saves us.
Thank you, Father, for one more day. Amen.
