While I’m writing this part of the post (I’ll publish it after writing a final paragraph!), money’s tight.\u00a0 (Can something that doesn’t exist be labeled “tight”?)\u00a0 We should’ve been paid last Friday but it hasn’t happened, yet.\u00a0 Today’s just Sunday, but since we’re running the budget tight, every day late feels like a month!<\/p>\n
![\"htaylor\"](\"http:\/\/craytonclan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/htaylor.jpg\")
<\/a>J. Hudson Taylor 1832-1905<\/p><\/div>\n
As payday was approaching, I’d been reading Hudson Taylor’s A Retrospect<\/span>, and he’s talking faith, fully depending on God for his provision.\u00a0 Friday night (while hoping for a text about where to meet to pick up a check) I read about a time when Taylor was due some pay, but his boss had forgotten to pay him.\u00a0 Taylor trusted God.\u00a0 Even when he had the opportunity, he didn’t remind his boss that he needed paid.<\/p>\n Earlier in the day on payday, I had texted R<\/strong> to make sure he had the right phone number (there had been changes), no response.\u00a0 I started to send him another text at the end of the day to remind him, but deleted it, trusting God could handle it.\u00a0 The first text was a little lapse in faith, I’ll admit.\u00a0 I’ll also admit that my faith falls far short of that of Hudson Taylor.<\/p>\n I even typed out a text to a friend who works for R<\/strong> — just a general text that would have prompted the friend to talk to R<\/strong> to remind him to pay me.\u00a0 I know God can handle it, but he uses people to accomplish His will, right?\u00a0 Well, I deleted the text without sending.\u00a0 If we’re gonna trust, we’ve gotta trust.<\/p>\n Saturday night, still no word.\u00a0 I went to tuck Olie into bed, and she handed me a little devotional book, called “God’s Little Princess Devotional Bible”.\u00a0 I was I swallowed my pride and took the book, flipped through to a random devotional and read it to her.\u00a0 My embarrassment waned when I read, “God wants us to trust him to meet our needs.\u00a0 If we really believe God will provide what is best for us, then we are freed to share what we have with others in need.”<\/p>\n I finished tucking and left to have a time of Princess Devotions with myself.<\/p>\n Sometimes God uses the words of a missionary to China that died in 1905, sometimes He speaks through your 6-year old’s Little Princess Devotions book.\u00a0 In truly desperate times, when God’s having trouble getting your attention, He may have to use both!<\/p>\n [It’s 1:15 Sunday afternoon.\u00a0 Gonna save this as draft until God finishes this episode.]<\/p>\n Here’s the final paragraph:\u00a0 I told someone \u00a0last week that I have faith that God can do absolutely anything.\u00a0 I know there are no limits to what God can<\/strong><\/em> do.\u00a0 Where my faith is lacking is believing what God will<\/em><\/strong> do.\u00a0 It was Monday afternoon, 24 hours after writing the above, that the situation was resolved.<\/p>\n OK, maybe a couple more final paragraphs… I’m no Hudson Taylor, nor would I compare myself to any of the missionaries in the past or present that are exhibiting great faith.\u00a0 I was a little surprised to see God work this one out as not much more than the natural flow of things, but since He created “natural flow”, it’s all Him!<\/p>\n As a Dad, it adds an entirely new dynamic to trusting God for the day-to-day, since both my struggles and my victories are shared by all of us.\u00a0 Compared to what they could be, our ‘struggles’ have been pretty tame.\u00a0 Please pray that the victories won’t go unnoticed!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I don’t normally write about money, especially tight times.\u00a0 I want to hold those stories for later when money is no longer an issue so that the stories can be shared without them coming across as a plea for donations!\u00a0 … Continue reading <\/a>embarrassed to take the book from her, with it’s title and tiara on the cover with a little plastic “diamond” glued to the front.<\/p>\n