(submitted
by Kerry Patton)
“31So
don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink? ’ or ‘What
will we wear? ’ 32For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things,
and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first
the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things will be
provided for you. 34Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow
will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:31-34
“Hey God…Why Aren’t You Taking Care of Me??”
In 1989, after completing my
undergraduate studies, instead of heading straight for seminary, I left the
two-church charge I was serving and moved my family to College Station,
Texas. There was a church there that had
grown from 8 people to over 2,000 people in less than 10 years. God was doing something very special there
and I wanted to see what was happening.
Could I learn from what was happening there and bring it back to the
churches I would serve as pastor of through the course of my ministry? That was my goal. To pay my family’s living expenses, I found a
job working for in retail sales for Radio Shack.
“I Am Taking Care of You…Why Won’t You Trust Me?”
On the spiritual side, moving to
College Station turned out to be everything I thought it would be. The church was vital, exploding with growth
and there were opportunities to serve and learn everywhere! Spiritually, I was soaking up everything I
could. Occupationally however, I was
frustrated. While my pay from Radio
Shack did cover my expenses, I wasn’t exactly prospering. During one pay period, business at the store
had been particularly slow. If a
salesman didn’t sell enough, he or she didn’t make commission and would make
only the low hourly wage. I could not
support my family with only the hourly wage.
This, the last day of that pay period, was my last chance make the
commission that was necessary for me to cover my expenses at home.
Throughout most of the day, I kept
getting trapped helping someone find a battery for their watch, or taking
returns of this or that while watching my coworkers ring up big sales. I was grumbling. As I witnessed the hours of the day ticking
by, I complained to the Lord. I NEEDED
to make sales and they weren’t happening.
I was frustrated and took multiple occasions to complain to my Heavenly
Father about how he wasn’t doing his part: “I
have followed Your instruction in coming to this town…and for what? So we could starve to death and lose our
place of residence? Great. What do I do now?” A financial crisis was brewing for my family
and I had no immediate solution.
It was now almost 9:00 p.m. - closing time for
the mall, and all of its stores. The day
was essentially over and I was counting down the cash drawer to reset it for
the next day of business before closing the store. Only one other employee and I remained in the
store. Curtis, the other employee, had
given up on working and had taken to watching a television there in the
store. With only a minute or two
remaining before I walked to the front and locked up, a customer walked into
the store. As I was counting down the
cash drawer, I called to Curtis to handle the customer’s need so I could finish
what I was doing. But the he ignored my
request. So, I apologized to the
customer, ceased from counting the cash drawer and offered my assistance: “How can I help you sir?” “Well,”
said the customer, “I don’t think I need
anything else. I think I have my order
figured out.” And he handed me a
piece of paper. It was a completed
purchase order.
This man was from the Caldwell
Independent School District some thirty miles away from College Station. He had been working with his school to make a
major computer purchase for one of their school campuses and had entered our
store to place his order…two minutes before we closed. As I looked at his paper work, my mouth fell
open. For the entire day, my sales had
amounted to less than $100.00. A typical
day for me would be over a $1,000.00 in sales.
My eyes fell to the bottom line… This one order was for over $30,000.00
in computer sales. Surely he had
consulted my store manager with a sale this large…at which point I would ring
up his sale, but receive none of the commission. I inquired, but the man replied: “No.
I just picked up your catalog and figured out what all we needed. And
the school approved the purchase…so, there it is. I haven’t spoken to anyone.”
The sale was mine. I was practically speechless with surprise
and joy…and ashamed of my faithlessness.
In one single sale, at the absolute last minute of my pay period, God
had brought together work he had been planning for quite some time, using
people that I didn’t even know, from other places altogether, to provide what I
was needing in that very moment…to serve Him.
Incidentally, for that month…I was the number one sales associate for
the entire Houston Region of Radio Shack.
Jehovah Jireh is our provider.
His grace is sufficient. Praise
be to God!
Prayer
Father,
it’s been over 25 years since these events happened. And yet, I am still amazed at how you took
care of me and my family. I’m still
embarrassed at how faithless I was in the moment of my need. Help us we pray, to trust always in your
provision, and to give you thanks for all that we have. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
