Okay - maybe it is me - but have you ever prayed for deliverance from a situation and when God does it your response is not what you expected it to be??
I had been asking God to make a way for me to get out of the job where I am. It is a great company and I work with great people, but this is not what I want to be doing with my life and there is no place for me to progress to from the position I am in - I am already the Manager of the area, there are no transfer options. Nevertheless, I wanted God to make it so that I would be in a better position to do ministry and to assist my husband in bring the vision to fruition... Well week before last I got notice that my division would be closing at the end of August. Now I am honestly going to tell you that I did not dance nor speak in tongues, but I had a serious flutter in my spirit... My boss was totally confused by the smile that overwhelmed my face since she was expecting me to fall apart and cry - she even pushed tissues in front of me which made me chuckle... When I got the word from her all I could do was say thank you to her and then ask her about my benefits, because I woke up with a check in my spirit that I was going to get my notice that day...
What has troubled me is that I know that God did this just to allow me to get to where I need to be in Him, but after a couple of days of being grateful that He answered my prayers my attitude changed to Lord you know I have bills to pay, what is wrong with Your timing, don't you see these bills flying in here, how am I going to pay tuition for Danielle... It was as if my faith fell and failed... Then I was angry about that...
What had happened in me was that I had a flash of glory and it scared me (I confess!)... Prophetically we are often told that in less than 30 days this will happen or God is about to do... Well we hear that and want to shout all over the place, but when you are facing it, you realize that God has done my part, so now it is on me. I can no longer talk about what I would do if I did not have to work so hard at my job... Now granted I am more than likely going to get another job - but this job will be much more flexible to my ministry needs or will at least not interfere with my current responsibility schedule...
But what I have determined is that this is part of the deliverance process... I know that we all get mad at the Israelites when in the wilderness, but the reality is we do the same... We break out in song as soon as we are delivered and then we start to thinking about how although we hated the work and complained about the conditions that we were not required to act out our faith in those situations... But you can't get to the promised land without a moment of introspection...
The Bible that Faith without works is dead... but I have found out that faith is work... True faith requires us to live up to our own responsibilities in light of God's power... Can't get an Ephesians 3:20 blessing unless you realize that there is a power at work in you... And you need to let the power work in and through you in order for you to receive that which is exceedingly abundantly above all you ask or think!!!
YES. I have had experiences such as this before. It's like people say, "Be careful what you pray for...YOU JUST MIGHT GET IT!" Ha!
I am so happy for you, Flow. God's up to something and it's all good. Now in the in between time if you can just ENJOY the extra time that you have to do ministry...
I have been there before -- I understand. You are going, "thanks God for this extra time...but...how are we going to pay the bills?" Fortunately He already has all this lined up somehow.
Let me know when He answers this financial need because perhaps if it's answered in a big enough way...you can come to Tampa and visit me with this extra time that you have!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The very same thing happened to me last year. The Lord put it in my spirit what my last day at this place would be, which was a Friday. Well, I was ready to quit 2 weeks prior to that, but God sent someone to tell me not to do that. The Monday of the week that I knew was to be my last, I was severed from the company and I recevied a severance that I would not have received had I quit when I wanted to. I was rejoicing and exceedingly glad until a about 2 weeks went by and I started to worry. I realized that I was scheduled to start Grad school in 2 weeks and did not have the money to pay my tuition.
Needless to say, God brought us through that experience. He blessed me far beyond what I could have dreamed. He gave me time off to volunteer at my daughter's school as she started first grade, which meant a great deal to me and to her. He also gave me time to get adjusted to being in school again without the pressure of working full time.
Now I am working in an area that is more in line with my goals for the future. Praise God!!!
Keep looking to the Lord. He is still the provider of everything that we need. In the Old Testament, they would name a place where they journeyed according to God's manifestation of Himself in that place. Sometime's we describe where we are according to the situation, and not according to how God is revealing Himself. Continue to speak in faith that this is your place of peace, provision, promotion.
My job was to end on August 31, I have already been offered a new job! And since I have tuition to pay next week it comes at the right time because my last day has been changed to August 13 - which means when tuition payment is due I will have my last check AND my vacation pay - which is an additional $700. AND since I start on the first day of a pay cycle, I will be getting my first check on the 31st, which means I am not missing a beat...
PLUS! I no longer work late nights on Tuesday! So I can minister to the younger children in music, something that my current job did not let me do!
AND! Although the salary range is wide - the county does not pay according to the salary range - they start you at the minimum... BUT!! I told them I could not take a job making less than I was where I was which already too low for me... So I told them my minimum salary, but when they got to the negotiation part, I realized that I was going from working 37.5 hours to 40 hours, so I needed them to base my salary on my hourly not yearly rate... WHICH IS A 1800 difference - SO I am making $3500 more than their minimum and $1800 more than I was!
