When we moved here, the Lord spoke to me about selling my beloved Jeep Wrangler.
She was a beauty with 33" swamp tires and a 5 speed manual transmission. With the doors off and the top down, freedom was mine! However it was too small to carry students and our family couldn't even all fit in it (legally). I sold it within a few weeks of moving here and I found a great deal on a Volvo XC90. It only had room for 5, but it had a ton of storage space in the hatchback. We now had a vehicle that was dependable, built like a tank and with the versatility of carrying people and equipment, it was a great find. And then classes started...
Within a week or two, we met many international students who had no home church, had just moved to Lafayette and needed a ride on Sundays. For a few Sundays, Jenn would load up the kids in the Volvo and I would take our 7-passenger Yukon XL to pick up the students and then I would meet her at church. But, lo and behold, the international students started inviting other international students and, "Houston, we have a problem." We ran out of room.
About 3 weeks ago on my way back to campus after worship (24 miles round trip) I saw a blue Suburban parked on the side of the road. Although it had a few miles on it, the body was excellent and so was the interior. There were a few things that needed to be fixed, but for an '04, it was in good overall shape. And then it hit me. This wasn't like most Suburbans. This was perfect for us...it had 3 bench seats. Seating capacity = 9. Rarely do you find Yukon XL's or Suburbans with a bench seat in the second row (they all have captain's chairs like our XL) and never do you find a bench seat in the front. We would have room for 16 people between our two vehicles if I purchased this one. I called the guy up the next day (he was a believer and we had awesome fellowship) and he gave me a great deal on it (and he owned a local bakery and he blessed us with cupcakes and a cake for Jenn's birthday!) With a HUGE step of faith we bought it, sensing this was the vehicle for us. I drove it home and got it fixed up and within a week, it was my new primary vehicle.
We prayed that the Lord would help us to sell the vehicle and for a week, there was silence. And then God whispered to me. This past Saturday I was invited to our men's breakfast at church. A missionary from India spoke a powerful message on trusting God. He shared a message on being faithful, even in our finances. He was so faithful with his God-given finances that he wouldn't even allow himself to rent a pull cart for $5 at the airport to pull all of his luggage even though he was exhausted from all of his traveling. This really stuck out to me. Jenn and I are faithful with our finances and we live on a cash-based system, have no debt, tithe and follow a strict budget but $5 here and $5 there doesn't necessarily concern us. But when the missionary shared this, it really convicted me that even $5 matters to God.
On my way home from the breakfast, I was talking to God about my car situation. I shared with God that nothing had happened for a week and out of obedience we had purchased that Suburban for the ministry. I quietly and simply prayed "Lord, would you help me to sell my car?" I had a peace about it and recommitted myself to God for every $5 in our budget. That afternoon, 8 people contacted me to buy the Volvo. It was paid for and picked up yesterday.
God sometimes allows us to go through a period of waiting because he wants to get our attention. I was reminded that my life is in God's hands. He's the provider of all things and I need to be faithful even with the "$5 things in life." Sometimes the whisper of God comes before the answer of God. What is God trying to speak to you about? What has he called you to do? Where are you not FULLY submitting to God? What are you holding on to? Even $5 matters to him. Surrender yourself and your situation fully to him and just see what he does in your life.
A whisper before an answer.
May you be blessed.
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