“You ARE provision..”
I recalled this phrase today that I penned 3 months ago in Chile right after many of my valuable belongings were stolen. I was reflecting today more on my time in South America and about how coming back home has been.
And I am absolutely blown away at the goodness of God in all the details!
As I sit here in the cozy coffee shop a 2 minute walk from the house I’m now living in with my best friend Jenn, I am so overwhelmed with thankfulness!!
I wrote the above entry in my journal at a point when I felt SO vulnerable and weak. Nothing was happening how I had anticipated at the beginning of my trip back out with the World Race and L squad. Though I had lost some material things which made things very difficult for a while, God was showing me how He Himself IS all the provision we need. He was speaking to me about how HE IS the I AM.. In Scripture He tells us He is the Living Water quenching the eternally restless thirst of our souls. The Eternal One who becomes a spring of life from up out of us onto the individuals and theworld around us! He is the bread of life, the resurrection and the life, the Son of God, the perfect sacrificial Lamb of God slain to free us from the just wrath of God set against our disobedient and wicked hearts. And as we receive Him, He is our Savior, brother, and friend, the One who made a perfect, infallible way to His Father.
In those weird moments at the beginning of my trip, I was in the midst of a bit of material lack. And I had to realize that when physical things come and go, God is still constant and literally IS the life that I need. He Himself IS the abundance that I need and that He promised would be ours in John 10:10.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
This scripture was my reality! The enemy came in and worked in the heart of man to steal from me! And let me just tell you, the Lord used that crazy scenario to really cause me to rely on Him even more than I thought I needed to or wanted to. And in that vacuum of things lost physically, He FILLED my spirit and my heart with more of Him and His love. He taught me even in such a small way, that it’s okay. That I’m okay when the unexpected comes and that when circumstances seem chaotic, I’m right in the palm of His hand–I’m still in His arms and under His wings. The Lord really challenged me to draw from Him when things were hard during those 3 months when I just wanted to disconnect and hide and escape the discomfort it was to allow Him to chisel away parts of me to look more like Him underneath.
NOW, here I sit about 3 weeks after coming home. (Thank you for your CONSTANT patience with me in resettling and processing!)
What I was SO unsure about regarding a home and job and place to continue to invest in after coming home, the Lord has heaped on me in clarity and blessing!
FIRSTLY,
T H A N K Y O U
for all your GIVING and generosity in finances, prayer, and encouragement! I can ELATEDLY tell you that right now I am FULLY FUNDED toward my trip with L squad that I just returned from! What the Lord did and is continuing to do in my life, in the lives of my sweet Team Burrito women, and in the lives L squad is touching daily is 1000% made possible by the provision of the Lord expressed THROUGH EACH ONE OF YOU! Thank you for being part of the Great Commission in sending us out to make disciples of ALL NATIONS! And because of your hand in that work, you are also making disciples of all nations in ways and ripples that we may never know the extent of! How have I been so blessed to be surrounded by such supporting and loving hearts? It is only the gift of God, and I am so thankful!!
Secondly,
I just moved into a rental house this past week, and we’ve been blessed to be able to make some improvements and paint a few rooms. This sweet house has so much character and is becoming a place of peace filled with God’s Presence, a place for those of us seeking to know and love God more to gather and be loved and known, a place for those needed refuge and a home-cooked meal to be welcomed. These are only the beginning days of learning what it looks like to extend hospitality and show others what safety in a home and in loving friendships look like with us AND with God Himself!
Third,
I was literally offered a job TODAY to work full time as an RN again! TODAY, people!! And I just had to get to work on a blog to explain the CRAZINESS of God’s goodness to me and to all of us as His children! I was SO nervous about jumping back into the medical field after my hiatus to follow the Lord, and I have NO IDEA WHY! I’m asking Him to help my unbelief in Him, for real. How could I ever believe He won’t take care of me?! Thankfully there’s so much GRACE for our easily doubtful hearts.
Anyway, He has taken care of me, and SO PERFECTLY. This hospital I’ll be in is the specific one He told me to look into, with much questioning and doubting from me. I simply didn’t see how it would work. And when I finally in obedience pursued the avenue He highlighted, there were not ONE but THREE job openings at this random time of the year!!
Tell me that’s coincidence, folks?! 3?! As in the 3-in-1 Triune Godhead we love?
YES, LORD!
Keep showing off, for us! haha.
Now that the Lord is making way for me to put some roots down here in Johnson City for a little while, I’m starting to feel such a gratefulness for being settled in one place for a good while in this next season. A time to rest and reflect and also look all around and dive into the good works God’s prepared for me here. My heart is for this place where I was raised and poured into by influential, messy, God-loving people, and I hope to be that person for so many others. I can’t wait to share it all with you!
God Himself indeed IS provision. Our source, our everything, molder of mountains and breather of stars. The same Eternal One who knit us together and says, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are mine.”
The apostle John is so right in exclaiming: “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are…” 1 John 3:1.
So right this moment in the midst of the overwhelming blessing and provision, and even THEN a few months ago when I was at a loss over my losses, I have realized the provision of our God never fails. AND if all we ever received from Him was JESUS coming to earth to redeem us and save us from our sin and the separation between us, it would be ENOUGH.
HE, our Lord Jesus, is ABUNDANTLY enough.
I am CONFIDENT in our Almighty Father God who never changes and will never leave us without what is GOOD for us and what we TRULY need. He’s so good!
Until my next rant,
Abby. 🙂
