Page 92 - Evidence of Things Unseen

Yet I also had this nagging feeling of guilt. It may seem difficult to understand this if you
have not walked in a similar place, but I had been trusting the Lord for nearly a year and
a half for our every need, and I felt like I was living life on the edge much of the time. Now
I was considering giving up this challenging walk, and I felt like a backslider for doing so.
Although I had asked God for this break from the pressures I had been facing, I also felt
somewhat guilty when God granted me my request.
My Father in heaven was very gracious and compassionate toward me, and He gave
me many more assurances that this was His will for me so that I would not be bothered by
guilty feelings. After being assured of the job, I told my wife about it and she was elated. We
then discussed what we needed to do next, and I felt that the Lord would have us sell the
motorhome and use the money to rent a place to live in that was close to the college. We
could use the money from the sale of the motorhome to buy furniture, since we had sold all
our previous possessions.
I placed an ad in the local paper for the motorhome, and the very first man who came
to look at it bought it, and he paid me $1,200.00 more than I had paid for it. We had lived
in the motorhome for four months, and then sold it at a profit. This was the grace of God.
We then began looking at rental property and the Lord led us to a townhouse that was
literally the only thing we could find that was available. It was a wonderful fit for us, for
there were three bedrooms, and a fenced backyard to let the dogs roam in. Tony had a
wonderful time going around to yard sales and thrift stores to buy the furniture we needed
to set up our household once more. We bought brand new beds for all of us, and the
Harrington’s gave us a kitchen table and chairs. In very little time we had all that we
needed, and had acquired it on a shoestring budget.
The Father continued to pour forth witnesses that He was directing our steps,
indicating that we were in a time of new beginnings. One witness to this fact was that the
townhouse had exactly sixteen steps between the top and bottom floors. Another occurred
when I got in the car to drive to the college one day. I felt the Lord tell me to check how
much time it took me to drive from the townhouse to the college. It took exactly eight
minutes each way. My classroom also seated exactly sixteen students. My first class was full
and I never lost a student the entire quarter. This was very unusual, and never happened
again, though I taught this same class over a dozen times in the next two years. The Father
gave me such favor that my second quarter of teaching the college increased my pay an
additional $1.50 an hour.
Immediately upon obtaining employment, the reproach I was receiving from family
members ceased. My financial pressures were also lessened, and these things combined to
allow me a time of peace and recuperation. The college offered me thirty hours of teaching
a week, and this amount was quite sufficient to meet all the expenses of our family,
especially since we no longer had any debt. I continued to write books and articles, and
manage the Heart4God website, in my off hours. I still considered this to be my primary
calling, and my teaching job was merely my tent making occupation.
God had no intention of allowing me to continue in this place of ease forever. He was
merely answering my request for a time to heal, and regain my spiritual strength. I had
worked at the college for nine months when my hours were cut to twenty a week. This was
still adequate to meet our needs, but things were a bit tighter and we had to begin looking
to God to fill up anything we were lacking. Another nine months passed and my hours were
cut once more to only ten hours a week.
When this occurred I was reminded of Elijah at the Brook Cherith. God had sent Elijah