Page 20 - Evidence of Things Unseen

in which you are reasoned with and addressed as sons? My son, do not think lightly
or scorn to submit to the correction and discipline of the Lord, nor lose courage and
give up and faint when you are reproved or corrected by Him; for the Lord corrects
and disciplines everyone whom He loves, and He punishes, even scourges, every son
whom He accepts and welcomes to His heart and cherishes. You must submit to and
endure [correction] for discipline; God is dealing with you as with sons. For what son
is there whom his father does not [thus] train and correct and discipline?
(Amplified Bible)

I would like to relate to you a testimony from my life where I received a scourging
from the Lord. This event was no less supernatural than His speaking to me and telling me
that He was going to give me a daughter, and telling me what her name would be. It was no
less a sovereign act of God than His Spirit leading us to buy groceries for a family when,
unknown to us, the husband had just lost his job and his wife was just expressing her
concern about where their provision would come from.
One of the areas of my life that I have struggled with is in the area of financial
stewardship, and more specifically I would identify my struggle as being with covetousness.
When my wife and I were first married we both felt a conviction that we were to live debt
free, although we were not as clear as to whether a mortgage on a house was wrong. In all
other matters besides a house we were committed to living within the means which we had
and to not incur any debt.
We lived in such a manner for the first few years of our marriage, and we knew the
blessing of God upon our provision. Even though we did not earn a lot of money, God
seemed to always be providing for us in gracious ways. About the third year of our marriage
my wife went through a pregnancy that resulted in the birth of our daughter. We had some
medical bills associated with the birth that needed to be paid. We didn’t have the money,
although it wasn’t a very large amount, and we decided to apply for a credit card in order
to use it to pay these bills.
I must state that I knew in my heart this wasn’t God’s true provision for us. Rather
than seeking Him and asking for His provision to be manifest, I decided to meet the need
in my own way. A large part of my reasoning was that there were a couple of things I wanted
to buy, and in addition to paying the medical bills, I could also use the credit card to get the
things I wanted while not having to wait until I had the cash on hand.
We obtained the credit card and paid the medical bills. I then also purchased the
things I was desiring. From this point forward, things changed in our finances and
provision. We had formerly seen God’s hand of intervention on a regular basis. Now it was
as if God said, “Ok, if you want to handle your money according to your will, then I will
remove My hand of protection and provision and leave you to your own resources and
devices.”
Over the next few years we accrued more and more debt. We ended up with several
credit cards as well as a car loan and other debt. When things got difficult, we applied for
a consolidation loan to reduce the burden of monthly payments, but then foolishly we kept
the credit cards and used them again.
My wife was not working, having quit work when our daughter was born, and my
income was very modest. Things reached a point where I was working two jobs, and
sometimes three, and the bills were taking everything that I earned. We were living
paycheck to paycheck, just barely keeping up with bill payments.