Do You Trust God to Provide For You?

I heard about a couple of disgusting conversations involving God-called pastors yesterday.  One of these conversations is more disgusting because it involved a guy who claims to be a Christian and is also a member at the church where the pastor he talked to serves.

But both conversations involved the same theme - money and a lack of trust in God.

God called this first friend of mine to Christian ministry years ago.  My friend spent years preparing himself in school and by serving in local churches.  A church member recognized his God-given abilities to teach, relate, show kindness, etc., and thought he would work great at HIS chosen career.  I'll leave out the details to keep these stories anonymous  So the church member approached my friend and basically offered him a job.  My friend said, "I have a job."  The guy said, "Yea, but you're not going to do this for the rest of your life."  My friend replied, "Yes I am.  This is what God called me to do.  And I enjoy it."  The guy said, "You're never going to be able to support your family doing this," and continued to tell him why he should make a career change.

God also called my second friend to ministry years ago.  This friend is still in the process of preparing himself in school.  He has also served in various ways in local churches throughout his adult life.  Just like with my first friend, it's obvious to anyone who is looking that God has definitely called him and gifted him with a passion to preach the Gospel and wisdom as he goes about it.  He was approached by someone he knew from a secular job, and the same conversation as the first one I mention took place.

I can't say that I'm shocked by the guy responsible for the second conversation because I don't know anything about him.  But I am shocked and saddened by the first guy.  He claims to be a Christian but he doesn't understand what it means to put his trust in God.  He doesn't know what it means to sacrifice earthly things for God's Kingdom.  And to make it worse, he tried to convince one of his own pastors to walk away from his calling based on HIS OWN sinful lust for money and doubt about God's ability to take care of him.

In the world's eyes, neither of my two friends make a lot of money.  As pastors, they'll probably never be able to afford homes three-times the size they need, luxury cars, expensive vacations, or to always have the latest whatever.  Both of them have families to take care of, and I'm sure they've wondered how they're going to give their children some of the things they hope to give them.  They can be sure of God's ability to take care of them and their families, NO MATTER WHAT, by looking at others who have trusted God to do the same.

Here's what I know from personal experience: If you follow God where He leads, with pure motives, and you're not scared to put in time and give great effort (in other words, IF YOU'RE NOT LAZY), God will always take care of you.  That doesn't mean God will give you everything you want.  It does mean He will take care of you.

I've never made much money.  Since I've been married, my wife has made more than me every year, and that includes the past year when she went to a reduced schedule.  But God has always taken care of me - in multiple ways.  At my first full-time church staff position, my salary wasn't enough to pay my bills.  I knew when I took the job that if I had to buy a car, I'd be eating lots of cereal for supper.  But I had a pastor who's still in my life who promised me that I wouldn't be in need.  He was right, and he and his wife personally helped me when I had emergencies.  Just a few months after I started there, the AC compressor on the 4-year old car I'd recently bought went out.  The AC compressor was unique - to the tune of $900 plus installation.  I didn't have that money.  Guess who paid it, and he's never asked for it back.  I didn't take advantage of their generosity, but they've always let me know that if I have a need, they'll help me.

Those church members gave me large cash gifts (anonymously or in cards and presents) at least THREE TIMES PER YEAR - Christmas, on the anniversary of the day I started serving there, and on my birthday.  That amounted to an extra $1,000-$2,000 per year that I didn't even expect.  My church also let me do something I both LOVED and benefited from: I got to substitute teach in the local middle school and high school, AS OFTEN AS I WANTED TO.  A church member worked in the middle school office and she made sure I got called often.  Due to the nature of substitute teaching, I could take my own work with me and do it throughout the day.  I averaged 1 day per week for the 4+years I served that church, and sometimes I subbed several days per week.  Every month when my check came from the school district office, I'd say a prayer of thanks to God for giving me extra income from doing something I actually enjoyed.  I was able to build so many relationships with kids I never would've met otherwise, and some of them started coming to our church just because of me subbing.

My favorite story about trusting God to take care of ME is with my education.  I've earned three degrees, and by the time I finished the last one, I didn't owe a cent on any of them.  I was 37 years old with a doctorate and zero student loans.  I was able to pay for my education as I went.  Just so happened that the first church I served volunteered to pay for my masters classes.  I took two classes per semester and had to be in class ALL DAY EVERY MONDAY.  That meant, I'd never be at work on Mondays.  My church was happy to give me the time "off."  (Keep in mind, I was also subbing an average of 1 day per week.)

When I moved away from that church and took out a loan to finish my last masters year, I had every cent of the loan amount before any interest ever accrued.  I saved every dollar I could and JUST HAD ENOUGH.  Somehow during that time, I don't remember a single car repair or any other surprise expense.

I spent 6 years earning a doctorate and I paid for it as I went.  Every cent.  College - it took me 9 years after college to pay off my low-interest student loan.  It really wasn't that big a deal or payment because God provided me with lots of scholarships, even though I didn't have a super-high GPA in high school or college.

See, God takes care of us when we trust Him.  That doesn't mean we can spend our money foolishly, but it also doesn't mean we'll never HAVE anything.  I play golf every week and golf and the gas I spend getting there aren't cheap.  Somehow, I keep on getting to play.  I have to thank that same pastor who paid for that expensive AC repair back in 1999.  Turns out, he likes to play golf more than I do.  I drove the same care for 10 years and now I have a truck I bought new 2+ years ago that's going to be paid off with this year's tax return.  After driving the same car for 10 years, my wife got a new car last summer.  I'm still waiting for how God is going to pay that thing off for us! (If you'd like to help with that, email me.)

A final story - my wife and I spent over $20,000 in about a year's time for the adoption of our first child in 2011.  I still don't know how we paid that much in a single year.  Our church did a fundraiser and raised over $2,000 for us.  Others gave us small amounts that added up to another $2,000+.  We received about $1,000 in adoption grants because I'm a pastor.  But we did have to put about $8,000 on a credit card.  We paid that debt off in about 8 months before we ever paid a cent of interest - by using last year's tax refund.  The day I paid it off I told Kate, "Good news!  They can't come repossess you!!"  For the past year, we've been saving every dollar we can for our next adoption.

Most Christians will never be on church staffs, but all of us have to trust God to take care of us no matter what we do.  I'm thankful that my two friends weren't swayed by the job offers.  I'm also thankful that I wasn't there when the offers were made.  I probably wouldn't have reacted as calmly as they did.

Georgia Versus Clemson on My Birthday

  

Kelley is a Clemson fan.  That's actually a weak statement.  She's a Clemson graduate.  Twice.  Both of her parents are Clemson graduates.  Her sister is a Clemson graduate.  Twice.  Lots of her family members are Clemson graduates.  Her grandfather on her mother's side was a vice president of Clemson in the 70's and into the 80's.

Kelley has never known life apart from being a Clemson fan.  Her choice was sort of pre-determined.

I'm a Georgia fan, as is well documented on my blog ( http://kevininsc.blogspot.com/2012/11/so-youre-telling-me-theres-chance.html ).  I didn't follow the same path Kelley followed.  I wasn't influenced by my parents and family, but by my surroundings at a very impressionable age.  My family moved to northeast Georgia in February 1981, to a place about 45 minutes above Athens, two months after Georgia won the 1980 National Championship.  What's a 7 year old who loves sports and has no prior allegiance to any team to do?

My office at work has lots of Georgia stuff on the walls, bookshelves, etc.  People have given me most of this stuff.  I'm often asked, "Did you go to Georgia?"  I tell them I didn't, but I grew up there in the 1980's.  We left the state in 1988 after my 9th grade year, and I finished high school in South Carolina.  Aside from having no desire to go pay out-of-state tuition, I knew by age 19 that God was calling me to full-time Christian ministry.  Somehow, people STILL discount me as a Georgia fan because I didn't graduate from Georgia.  First of all, if that scenario were true, college football as we know it wouldn't exist.  Do you really think those 80,000, 90,000, and 100,000 seat stadiums (especially around the South) are full of COLLEGE GRADUATES?  If you've been to a single game, you can wholeheartedly say, "HECK NO!"  Second of all, I've earned a Bachelors, a Masters, and a Doctorate, none of which were available at UGA.  My calling was more important in making my college decision than who was my favorite team.

So, I'm a Georgia fan.  Kelley is a Clemson fan.  Who is the biggest fan?  I think she'd agree - me.  I take it more seriously, more personally.  I SUFFER more with losses - not on purpose.  That's just how it is.  Kelley's sister is closer to being the kind of fan I am.  I admit, we're both idiots.  Watch us watch a game and you'll see for yourself.  I feel like I'm running sprints the whole time I watch - unless it's a blowout.  Kelley asked me that if I could control the outcome of the SEC Championship Game last year, how much of our savings would I give for a Georgia win.  I didn't hesitate and said a number that's basically all of it.  It would've been money well-spent, in my opinion!

Georgia and Clemson played every year when I was a kid, as they'd done for decades.  (Georgia won a close one in 1980 and won the National Championship.  Clemson won by 10 in 1981 and won the National Championship.  Tie in 1983.  Georgia won on a 60-yard Kevin Butler fg as time expired in 1984.  Look - it was actually 60.5 yards.

Georgia won easier in 1985.  Clemson won on last -second David Treadwell fg's in 1986 and 1987.)  With all these close games, I HATED Clemson growing up.  As much as I hate Florida now.

The yearly games ended after the 1987 season, and if you weren't alive back then, you don't really understand the rivalry.  Back then, Georgia's biggest rival was Clemson.  Not Georgia Tech, not Florida, because they rarely lost to either of them.  Clemson's biggest rival was Georgia.  Not South Carolina.  They didn't lose to South Carolina often.  Ask most older Clemson fans what team they hated most through the 80's and they'll say Georgia.  Most older Georgia fans will say Clemson.  And I married a Clemson girl.  I married INTO a Clemson family.  That's college football blasphemy where I was raised!

They've only played 6 times since 1987.  (If you care to know, Clemson won in 1990 (I was there).  Georgia won in 1991, 1994, 1995 (I was there), 2002, and 2003 (I was there).  They play again this year and next - 2013, 2014.  This year's game is at Clemson on August 31, 2013 - my 40th birthday.  I told Kelley when the game was scheduled that I don't want to go.  I'll be one Georgia fan in a crowd of Clemson fans - including Kelley's family.  And I either get to leave happy with everyone else around me, most-importantly my wife, unhappy, or I leave unhappy and everyone else around me happy.

Kelley, and mostly her sister, Kristi, kept trying to convince me to go, and I kept saying no, giving the above reasons.  I finally said, "I'll go but here's the condition: Kate has to wear Georgia stuff."  Kate will be 2 by then and she LOVES sports.  Like me, sports in general are her favorite TV show.  Kelley agreed to my condition, but with the added condition that Kate must wear an orange bow in her hair and a Tiger Paw on her face.  I agreed.

So if Kelley's dad can get us tickets, it looks like I'll be spending my 40th birthday in a most unfriendly place.  Hopefully there will at least be some cake and ice cream.  I'm thinking about a big Oval G cake with red and black icing.