Trusting Jehovah Jireh

My wife and I sat in our bedroom staring at each other. Everything just seemed to continue to grow worse and worse. Money was getting way too tight and we had already cut the fat out of our spending. We had just purchased a new home by the skin of our teeth last month. While I had only been at my job for little less than a year, it was a company I enjoyed being at and was perfectly suited to my skill set. I was going to have to find a higher paying job. My wife worked at a company that she loved for the past three years, but if I wasn't able to move up in pay quickly she would have to leave it completely. We both sent out a multitude of resumes and applications. I quickly received a response for a position where I could make a lot more money than my current paycheck. I went in for an interview and found out it was a sales position with a very well established company. The thing is I’m not a sales man. I do tech support for an Internet hosting company. While I’ve tried in my past to do sales, it’s never worked out. The information I received about the company seemed like a great way to start a new path in my life and better provide for my family.

We were again at a place where we had we had no choice, but to trust whole-heartedly in God and His plans for our lives. We chose to fast for a day while we prayed for wisdom on what to do. Should I leave my current position that I’ve been at and well suited for or should my wife leave her job that she had been at for three years? There was so much that had happened in our life recently that it felt that God had really stripped us of everything that was not of him. We had been put on the burning alter multiple times to have the fat burned off only to leave an acceptable offering to Him. This had lead us to the place where we knew a decision was more about his wants for us than for what our simple wants and desires were.

The fast had begun and we had come to the day when it was time to tell my company I was leaving or turn down the new job. The plan was to wait until lunch and go talk to the people in HR, but strangely enough they called me in before I could get to them. As I entered the head of HR’s office I noticed my supervisor was in the room as well. It felt a bit like high school again, but unlike high school I couldn’t think of a reason I would be called in. They sat me down and began to inform me that the company I had applied for called to check my resume and references with my current position. I began to figure that I was going to be let go for looking for a new job and not informing them. They asked me why I was leaving and I honestly replied, “The money. I have a wife, two children and a new mortgage and I need to make more money. I really like what I do and this company, but the needs of my family have to take precedence.” They looked at each other, asked me to step outside, and after a brief pow-wow called me back in. I was beginning to assume that God had made his choice and that a new career was in my very new future, but historically speaking my ability to figure out God’s plans for my future are not too great. My supervisor began to tell me how I was a great asset to the company and that a promotion was already in the works for me, which would include a raise, and that my year review was coming up, in which my performance warranted another raise. They asked me if I would stay if they offered me both of those raises right away, as they would be mine if I stayed. There it was. God at work. I stepped outside, called my wife to let her know of the offer and confer with her which wasn’t a long call, then came back and accepted the 15% raise and coming promotion.

My wife and I had made a choice to put everything in God’s hands and then to simply follow the path he laid out. Sometimes it feels the road doesn’t appear until our feet hit the ground, which shouldn’t surprise us because He’s God. He is Jehovah Jireh. There is a song where the lyrics speak of birds singing of how not to worry and how everything would be okay. They may seem like ridiculous lyrics, but they’re so true. It’s a musical reference to Matthew 6:26:

“Look at the birds. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren't you far more valuable to Him than they are?”

Every day is a reminder of how we are to put everything we are in God’s hands and it is only by following His plan do we succeed and every now and then we get a few rewards along the way.

- David & Cindie