Trust God! and a blessing too

My title is reminiscent of our Mexico mission trip of '04, when our sports ministry leader had all of us guys shout out Trust God! at the top of our lungs.

So this past Thursday I had to preach a sermon in my narrative preaching class at Multnomah. This one came from John 4:43-54, where Jesus heals the royal official's son. The point was that the official took Jesus at his word, believed him, and life was given...so to should we trust God, and take Jesus at his word.

Part of my sermon included a story about how I recently left my job at Costco for a part-time position at my church. Taking this step meant following the direction that God has laid out for me, but talking a pay cut too. One promise that I've relied on is that Jesus says seek first His kingdom and all these things (contextually - food and clothing)will be given to you as well.

So I taught Thursday about all that, saying that each month has been 'fun' to trust that God will provide enough money...and He has...of course there isn't room in the budget to go out to eat, or rent movies, or buy new clothes, but we can eat and pay rent. both very good things in this life if you want my opinion.

So Thursday, my wife calls me and shares a story with me. Her boss called her into his office and shut the door. Gulp! He said, "I don't know if you know, but this is the time of year we give out raises." Alison thought, "No, I didn't know that."

He gave her a raise and then told her that she would also get a bonus too! (Which they don't normally give out.)

My thoughts in this order were. 1)Thank you God! 2)We can buy Christmas presents for each other and our families now! 3)Woah...I just talked about trusting God this morning for taking care of us...and He just more than provided for us even beyond our needs! Thanks God! (and my wife for working hard...and her boss for valuing her employment at the firm!)