God Guides and Provides

“The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he would drink from the brook.”    —1 Kings 17:6

The greatest disappointment in my life and the greatest miracle of God’s provision occurred while I attended seminary. God had called us to full-time ministry and led us, we believed, to Asbury Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. I planned to get a high paying computer job, and Darlene would work for the college or seminary. No companies wanted to hire me for three years as a part-time employee with no prior experience. I had to settle on a work study position at the seminary making $33.50 per week.

Darlene interviewed 35 times with the college and seminary. Each time she felt confident the interview went well and that she could do the job. Each time brought another rejection. Finally, after a short stint as a waitress at a local greasy spoon, Darlene stopped looking for work. We believed God had led us to this place in our lives and ministry so we decided to wait on the Lord. We planned to wait until our checkbook got down to $800, the amount needed to rent a U-haul truck to move home. If God did not provide our needs, we would determine that we misunderstood God’s guidance for our lives.

About that time, I received a $20 check from a missionary I barely knew. The memo of the check contained the scripture reference, “1 Kings 17:6.” For me, receiving support from a missionary is very similar to being fed morning and evening by a crow. God was faithful. Although we never received large amounts of money, each month little by little enough money came in to pay the bills. I graduated from seminary three years later with the $800 for the trip home still in the bank.

Acts 16 recounts an exciting time in the life of the early church. The Gospel had been declared to the Greek world and many non-Jews were coming to faith. The church leaders at Jerusalem had come to agreement on how to lead the Gentile church. Paul and Silas set out on a second missionary journey to encourage the churches and lead many more to faith in Christ.

As they went forward with great confidence, the doors of ministry appeared to close. They attempted to continue their mission but were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to go into Asia and were not permitted to enter Bithynia (Acts 16:6-7). Finally, God gave them direction. “A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us’” (Acts 16:9). They concluded that God was guiding them to Macedonia. They immediately began proclaiming the Gospel in Europe.

What do you do when you are certain you have received direction from God only to find the doors closed? Darlene and I began with great confidence but soon felt self-pity and confusion. Where was God? What were we to do? We stopped trying to solve our dilemma in our own strength and waited on the Lord for guidance and provision. Paul and Silas continued moving forward one step at a time waiting for the Lord to provide an open door and direction.

As we follow the Lord’s direction, the path may not always be clear and easy, but we can be certain that God will provide and guide. If the Lord is calling you to it, He will surely see you through it. Trust Him today. Keep moving forward, doing what you know to do. Wait on the Lord to provide and guide.