Page 70 - Evidence of Things Unseen

A Perfect Provision

hen I left the Houston Healthcare Complex in October of 1999 after fourteen years of
Wservice, I was able to cash out my accrued vacation time, and the money from this
carried us for a couple months. An annual gift from family, and then a tax refund, came in
right on time and carried us through about April of 2000. We were still carrying all of our
debt, and making payments each month as I had when I was still employed. I had expected
that God would be pleased with our obedience in following Him in this step of faith and that
He would either manifest some provision to pay off all of our debts, or He would give us
what we needed to continue paying all our bills month by month. God had other plans,
however.
Yahweh was always faithful to provide for us the necessities of life. We always had
food, clothing and a roof over our heads, but He felt no obligation to pay for all the things
I had purchased through debt and disobedience. As part of my own flesh cutting experience,
He was going to break me of this stronghold of covetousness and then lead me and my
family into a fresh beginning where we would walk contentedly, thanking Him for whatever
He chose to provide for us. The financial death that Charles Newbold had prophesied some
months earlier was to come quickly.
I continued spending my days praying, writing new articles and answering
correspondence. Finances became tight and our bills began to get behind. I was very
concerned about this, and I could not understand why the Lord was not manifesting His
provision, for I felt bound in my spirit to not seek any employment. I was absolutely
convinced that had I done so I would have been in great disobedience to the will of God and
would be walking in unbelief. Our bills for the van and the house became one month late,
and then two months late, and then three months late.
Despite my complete inability to pay these large bills, God would send us support in
small amounts to pay our utilities and to purchase some gas and groceries, though these
things were tight as well. We were not able to be as extravagant as we once were in our
shopping, and we became bargain shoppers. We only had one occasion when we had to
forego buying meat for a week, or more. We had been accustomed to eating meat daily, with
most every meal, and during this time Tony and the kids began voicing how much they were
missing it.
I was reminded of God’s testing of Israel in the wilderness. He let them suffer hunger
and thirst on occasions to test their hearts. He fed them with manna for forty years, and the
Israelites, who were accustomed to a much more varied diet in Egypt, began grumbling
about missing the melons, leeks, onions, garlic, and fish that had once been a part of their
diet. Although God’s provision for them was perfect, and just what they needed to break off
their bondage to the appetites of the flesh, they did not appreciate what God provided. They
grumbled and murmured against God. The Scriptures state:

Numbers 11:1, 4-6
Now the people became like those who complain of adversity in the hearing of
Yahweh... The rabble who were among them had greedy desires; and also the sons
of Israel wept again and said, "Who will give us meat to eat? We remember the fish
which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and
the onions and the garlic, but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look