Page 98 - Evidence of Things Unseen

A Whisper on the Wind

was eventually able to pay my landlord the rent, though I was paying it at the end of the
Imonth, rather than at the beginning. This continued for some time until in the fall of
2002 my work load was decreased again to ten hours a week. The Holy Spirit still would not
allow me to find other work to supplement my income, telling me instead that I was to
continue the ministry of writing and correspondence He had given to me.
When the electric bill arrived at the beginning of November, I did not have the means
to pay it. I had been forced to pay this bill late on previous occasions, even having to apply
for a week’s extension, which a customer is only allowed to do one time. I knew I would not
get paid again by the college until the last week of November, and I did not believe the
power company would bear with me that long before sending someone out to turn off our
electricity.
One week went by and I had not heard anything from the power company, and then
two weeks, and then three. I did not understand why someone had not yet been sent out,
but I began to hope that I would get paid and be able to pay my bill before anyone was sent
to our home. Because of the Thanksgiving holiday we were to receive our checks a few days
earlier than usual. When there was only a couple days left before I was to be paid, I felt that
God would surely deliver us by keeping the power company employees away from our home
until I could pay the bill.
The day before I was to be paid I was sitting at my computer writing when my son
came into the room saying there was a man from the power company on our back porch.
He had been sent to disconnect the power and was in the process of doing so when I walked
out to speak to him. I told him I was to be paid the very next day, and I would pay my bill
then. I asked if he could delay in cutting off our power, and he agreed since he said he had
never been sent to our home before.
God allowed us to struggle financially in this manner for a long period of time, and
some of the worst testing was still ahead. We often had the wolves howling at the door, with
some impending lack threatening us, but God never allowed us to suffer lack. We always
had food, covering and even electricity and phone service. Though things have looked
perilous on many occasions, and we have had some close calls, God has always had a
provision for us. By allowing us to experience these things He has been proving our faith
and obedience to Him, while at the same time teaching me humility.
I shared this experience with a young couple that God had brought into our lives, and
the wife of this couple told me of a similar incident that occurred with her uncle. Her uncle
is also a minister who has spent a considerable time outside the main camp of Christianity,
and the Spirit laid it upon him to also trust God for his provision.
This young woman shared that she and her husband were over at her uncle’s house
one day, and things were very tight financially for her uncle at the time. Adding pressure
to his required obedience in this matter, an elderly relative lived in a home on the same
property, and they shared the same electric account with the local power company. If power
were cut off at this minister’s house, it would also be cut off at the home of this elderly
relative.
This man had been seeking God for his provision, yet he too was being stretched with
no provision coming in. The power bill got further behind until the day when this young
couple were visiting. An employee of the power company pulled up in the yard and walked