Her Views · On Being Christian

Here’s How This is Going to Work

thejanlynn

I’ve debated for several days about whether or not to write this post. The simple reason is that it would involve being specific about money, and 1) my mother would roll over in her grave to think I was being so ill-mannered as to talk about money publicly, and 2) everyone knows it’s ill-mannered to talk about publicly.

Still, I’m not sure how to write about my current unemployed situation and desire to be transparent about my faith/fears and God, and not at some point talk about money. So… here we are.

I think I’ve mentioned I am receiving severance through the end of July. I’ve been living very thriftily, doing some freelance writing projects and carefully saving all my income. I’ve probably got enough to get through the next couple of months, which was a little relief. And then, the service light came on in my car. A regular service, followed by a dead battery, two trips to the dealer, and almost $600 later, I looked at my checkbook and felt the pinch of anxiety. Why did I have to spend that money on my car? Who knew what I might need it for in the next few months?

In that moment, I realized that it is not my money management skills that will get me through this situation. Whether God said it or I thought it, I understood that “that’s not how this is going to work.” I decided to be thankful that I had the $600 to pay for the repairs, and trust God to provide what I would need in the future.

Two days later I got a check in the mail for $600.

Now. It was money I was expecting, though I didn’t know when. But still. This has only happened to me once before in my life. I’m amazed and pretty excited. I figured you might be too.

10 thoughts on “Here’s How This is Going to Work”

  2. Thanks for sharing Jan. God will reward you for your faithfulness (is this a word?) Not always easy but God will provide what is best for each of us. Look forward to hearing more about your adventure.

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  3. Thank you for sharing Jan! It’s such an encouragement to hear how God is taking care of one of His children. We see God’s provision the clearest when we are least able to provide for ourselves. Hang in there, friend. I can’t wait to hear how God sees you through to the other side of this season.

    love ya,
    Cathy 🙂

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  5. Hi Jan and do I have a story for you: This past Saturday, after finally balancing my checkbook to my July bank statement and stressing over my upcoming August bills, I found that I had mistakenly recorded a $236 check TWICE in my checkbook. I was so happy that I started to cry right there at my dining room table. I thanked God for all that is has done for me. I even wrote the words “THANK YOU GOD” next to the correction in my checkbook. This is the third time something like this has happened to me. Also, I don’t think it is ill-mannered to talk about money, look at the Bible, money is mentioned over 800 times. 😉

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  8. So, if you tithe 10 percent of the $600, then you have $540 for your car repair bills and they’re almost covered.

    A friend and I have a continuing discussion about the meaning of Matthew 5:42 (“Give to the one who asks you, …”). She feels obligated to give to everyone who asks, including strangers who mail solicitations. She was unemployed when we started our discussion.

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    1. I agree… in fact I think tithing or generous giving – especially in difficult times – may be the key to the whole thing because it demonstrates that your faith is in God, not money. God gave me $600 because that was a meaningful number (what I’d spent on my car). I give him back part of it as an acknowledgment that I understand everything I have comes from him anyway.

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  9. Very cool Jan! It is a sweet gift from God. I still remember tangible ways that God showed me his provision when I was unemployed several years ago!

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