By Bro. Richard Davis
Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
When my wife and I first got saved, we lived 3 hours from the congregation we now call home. We wanted to be in church as much as possible, so we would get up Sunday morning at 5:00 am, get ready, and drive for three hours; we always left in time to make it to Sunday school. We would nap at her grandparents’ house for a few hours, and then go to evening service. We often didn’t make it home till after midnight. We wanted to be in our place, and we knew God was leading us. After council, and the leading of The Holy Spirit, we felt that we needed to make the move. We were in a descent financial position, but I certainly didn’t feel comfortable moving. I knew we had to obey God and make the move. I thought I had a job lined up, and so we took the plunge and moved. The job fell through. We used our last bit of money to secure an apartment, and prayed.
It was during these times that we were able to see first-hand, the provision of God. We had food delivered to us without asking, money secretly slipped into our hands and the prayer of the saints to carry us through. Being close to the congregation (15 min) was a blessing on its own!
Unfortunately we both had to work dead end jobs to make ends meet. The apartment complex we lived in was… difficult for us. We were trying to serve God and yet we were surrounded by extreme sin. We prayed and prayed. I needed a job that would allow us to move to better circumstances, but more importantly I wanted desperately for my wife to be able to stay home. Titus 2:5 says that a wife should be a “keeper at home”; we knew things wouldn’t get much better until we were able to obey this scripture. I had some good prospects, and interviews but nothing was coming through.
I finally got an interview at a really good place to work, it payed enough that we would be able to move, and my wife stay home. I was very excited. After the first interview, I knew we had to take a step of faith. Other jobs had fallen through after the first interview, and sometimes even after the second, but I wanted God to know I trusted Him. I took my wife out to eat and told her that I thought she should go ahead and put in her two week notice at her job, without having my other job secured. It may have seemed reckless but God’s promises are real! She was apprehensive to say the least, but she agreed and put in her notice. We prayed.
I got called in for the second interview, and thought it went fairly well. The HR lady promised us that she would call on Friday. I know how it works; if you don’t get the call, you end up with a rejection letter in the mail. So we waited for Friday. All day I was waiting with my phone, making sure it was charged, I turned the ringer all the way up! I did not want to miss this call. The afternoon came. 3:00 came and went, 4:00, 5:00 still nothing, I waited till after 6:00 before I finally gave up. I wasn’t going to get the call. I was heartbroken. My wife was as well. What were we going to do? She already quit her job, and mine couldn’t carry us through. I was distraught, the devil wanted me to be angry with God, but I fought it. I went to bed not knowing what to do; I tossed and turned for a while, then opened my bible. I needed the Word of God; I needed a promise, comfort… something!
I opened to a random page. This scripture was there. Psalm 30:5, “For his anger endureth but for a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” In hindsight it all seems so obvious, but in my state of mind, I simply thought that things would look better in the morning, and then I could figure out what to do. In that moment, I considered the job gone.
Morning came, and I was feeling a little better. I ate some breakfast and tried to relax. My phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number. I answered… I got the job! The HR lady was swamped and didn’t get through all the new hires; she came in on Saturday to finish up. I told her she nearly gave me a heart attack! I got swept up in the call, uniform measurements, orientation dates, etc. I cry tears of joy as I write this, God always comes through, and He is never late.
Eight years down the road, and I’ve had two promotions, and enjoy my job. We have a nice home out in the country, a couple acres of land, two chickens, and a cat. My wife hasn’t had a job since, and we have been blessed. We are only 3 minutes from the church and this has opened up opportunities to serve in the kingdom. We are thankful for what God has done for us and plan to serve him all of our days!