Thank you for your prayers for our search for a new Quiet Waters Ministries “place” for restoration and renewal. I’m pleased to report that we have made an offer on a house that could become that “place.”
As the Board of Trustees met to make the decision about making an offer, we all wondered where the money would come from to make the purchase. Prior to that meeting, I shared that concern in an email to Kathy Miller of Faith Mountain. Her response was very encouraging. She wrote, “God specializes in ‘we don’t have the money.’ He loves to show Himself to His children. I’m praying with you. God bless, Kathy.”
A week ago, we took a little vacation and visited a church where the speaker was Jeff Townsend who conducts training in the Middle East. In his sermon he told us that God often gives us tests to teach us faith. He used as his text John 6:1-13. You know the story of Jesus feeding the five thousand. Honestly I had never noticed that in the passage it says that He asked Philip a question, “. . . only to test him, for He already had in mind what He was going to do.” The test question was, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”
What is the test question God is asking you today? Does He already know the answer?
Why did Jesus ask Philip the question if He already knew what He was going to do?
The question He is asking me and the members of the Board of Quiet Waters Ministries is, “Where are you going to find the money to pay for the new retreat facility?” If we apply His words in John 6, “He asked this only to test me and the members of the Board, for He already had in mind what He was going to do.”
That last statement is very hard to grab onto. We often act as if we don’t think the Lord has a clue as to how to supply our needs. We find it very difficult to realize that the Lord “already has in mind what He is going to do.”
Now you’ve heard the old saying that you can’t turn a ship that is not moving, so we do need to be using all of our abilities to find the answer. However, if you’re like me that is where we stop. We act as if it all depends on us. So when Jeff read John 6:6 it really made an impact on my thinking about where we would get the money for the new “place.”
So why was He testing Philip and why is He testing you and me today?
The answer is very simple. He just wants to grow our faith.
So when you get the tough questions like, “Where is the money going to come from?” Stop and realize that it isn’t where the money is going to come from. The real question is, “Are we going to trust the Lord?”
P.S. Please pray that our offer on the house will be accepted and that God will provide the money.
