More Abundantly Beyond

This post has been on my mind for a while, and I finally have a moment to sit and write it out. About a year ago I began a part time job. My wife and I had been thrown out of a rough ministry assignment, and abandoned by people we thought genuinely cared about us. I had been unemployed for several months and finally got hired at Home Depot. I was working in the Garden Department for the first couple months there so it wasn't that bad. The pay was lousy, and the hours weren't always the greatest, but I had a job that allowed me to be outside and learn about things I actually wanted to know about.

I survived the first cuts from temp to part time, and actually got moved to a slightly better position in that it came with a set schedule, and a raise (or so I was told). But I began to get really restless. Already I had been there longer than I wanted, and I was getting discouraged. Life was changing, and I wasn't making enough to be able to support my family, and my hours were beginning to be cut. I learned that at the end of the year they let most of the part time people go, and then begin the cycle all over again, that way they avoid giving raises.

I wasn't worried, but I was getting desperate for something better. I began to pray, and I told God, "I just want a forty hour a week job that allows me to provide for my family." Enter Ephesians 3.20-21, "Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen."

I had met a guy through our Life Group at church and he helped me begin the process of seeking a new job with the company he worked for. When I applied I thought I was simply applying to a job that would give me forty hours Monday-Friday and as a bonus help me get my Master's completed. And then I got to work the first day. As I sat in orientation I began to watch God go above and beyond.

What I'm about to say isn't meant to be bragging, but a testimony of praise that is long overdue.

My new job gives me a set schedule Monday-Friday and salary pay that is more than double what I made at Home Depot. I don't have to clock in or out. My wife and I get Medical, Dental, and Vision coverage at no premium, and they also give great life insurance to me at no cost. After I work 1,000 hours in a year they pay into a retirement account for me, and they also give cash profit sharing bonuses at the end of the year. And on top of all of that, they will pay for 100% of my schooling, books included, no matter what my field of study is.

I didn't know that jobs like this existed, and therefore had no way of even asking God for something like this. My prayer was simply for a forty hour work week that allowed me to make enough to provide for my family. God did that, but He did so much more than I ever thought possible. And for that I'm writing this post to give Him the glory He deserves.

I'm not doing what I want to be doing with my life, but I have found contentment in the moment. God is providing for my needs, and He is paving my way back into full time ministry, and even providing for retirement now. I don't know what comes next, but He's starting to give me a vision for that, and during this time of preparation I'll be seeking His guidance for that, with the hope and expectation of it being far greater than I can imagine.

That is how God works when we trust Him. He is able to do it, but if we never give Him the chance we get stuck because we limit Him. Pray big, but pray with the right motives, and watch God take care of you in ways you never thought possible. And when He does, give Him the glory.

"I have been young and now I am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his descendants begging bread."

To God alone be the Glory!

Peace be with you