Day 6 – I AM your Provider (Part 1)

James 1:12 “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trials, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him”.

Marie’s testimony is an encouragement of trusting God to be our provider in all things…

“I love this verse, and I must confess that it only made sense to me at the age of 52. Let me tell you the story. From a young age, I was forced to be independent. I was sent to boarding school at the age of fourteen, and after finishing school at eighteen, I joined the South African Air Force. The army life suited me perfectly because I was used to structure, discipline, and routine. My will to be independent had no boundaries, and when I was old enough to date, I insisted on paying for half of a dinner account or my own movie ticket. My whole life, I worked hard to be independent and positioned myself to trust no one for provision, not even the Lord. I would never consult the Lord or ask for anything because I provided for myself. I was always good at problem-solving, and that became my speciality. Family, friends, and work colleagues often turned to me for assistance with whatever needed to be solved. I was so busy fixing other people’s problems that I didn’t notice the trouble in my own home. In this process, I appointed myself as my sister’s keeper and would constantly help her out of trouble.”

One Saturday, my world crumbled, and everything turned upside down. I suddenly understood how Job must have felt when he lost everything. Although my problem wasn’t as massive as Job’s, I felt lost and abandoned. I have a problem that I cannot solve by myself. I can’t go over it, I can’t go around it, and I feel defeated. Like David, I don’t have the faith to defeat Goliath standing before me. Nothing seems to make sense to me. In my mind, I believed that if my life broke into pieces, my family and friends would pick them up and put me back together. But no one was there to piece me together.

As we always do we ask God why and blame Him for our pain in life. I will pray for my family, finances, health etc. and when I say amen, I will take the problems back. I just couldn’t trust God with my problems.” (To be continued…)

Prayer: Father, so often we feel like taking control of things we already gave to You in prayer and we forget that You are our Provider in all things. May we learn from the blessing of this testimony that we can always trust and rely on You. Amen.