The Lord is working in an interesting way today, because no matter what topic I tried to focus on and write about this morning, my spirit seemed unsettled and restless; I couldn’t concentrate on what I was doing, and I kept getting interrupted by phone calls. Then I felt a need to email my “mister” a note to let him know how the Lord had used his contribution to the ministry two months ago, without which I couldn’t have ordered the new computer. I felt the Lord wanted me to let him know how important his support ended up being (once again!) especially since he had indicated earlier in the week that he could be experiencing his own financial challenges soon. And I wanted to assure him that the Lord would provide for me and the ministry if he were unable to do so as we’ve agreed. I tried to encourage him by reminding him that the Lord is ALWAYS working on our behalf, even when we can’t see it or it doesn’t seem like it, which brought one of my favorite personal testimonies to mind, because when “everything” seems to be going wrong, I can’t help remembering my “apartment testimony”. So even though it is quite different from what I usually publish here, that’s what I feel the Lord wants me to share today, which means someone probably really needs to hear it right now. So I hope and pray it blesses and encourages someone even half as much as it does me, especially during the most difficult times in my life and when it might appear that the Lord has abandoned me.

Soon after my husband and I entered into a very generous settlement and separation agreement, I moved into a beautiful two bedroom villa, which I loved and which was very conveniently located. In fact, I loved it so much that when the time came to renew my lease, I talked the owner into letting me lease it with an option to buy it. But despite several appointments to sign the paperwork, he kept putting it off. And then very late at night on the last day of my lease, he called to tell me I’d have to move, because he had broken up with his girlfriend, and he needed to move back into the villa himself. Not too wisely on my part, I told him that if he expected me to be out when he did, he’d better send me a telegram, because the law required him to notify me at least one month in advance of the time I had to vacate the premises. And he did!

So the hunt for a new place to live began in earnest. But it was quite a challenge, because I had a limited budget (my husband was no longer able to make alimony payments), and I needed to be near a bus stop, and I had a cat and a little dog. In addition to looking on my own, I worked with a real estate agent, because he could take me around to look at the apartments, which was a big help since I didn’t drive. And that’s when the fun began, but I’ll just share a few of the most interesting things that happened.

One time we had an appointment to look at a place, and when we went to the real estate office to pick up the key, no one could find it or the agent. Then another time, we had an appointment, but when we got there, it had been leased since confirming the appointment an hour earlier! But one of the MOST amazing things was when we actually went to a place where we had an appointment, only to find a note on the door saying that an emergency had come up and they had to leave! And, of course, sprinkled in between those events, there were several places that advertised something other than the truth, so when we got there, they wouldn’t work for one reason or another. And it was not just a matter of me being too picky. For instance, one place that took pets, only allowed one pet. And another place that took pets, forgot to mention a VERY high pet deposit. The pets and a maximum budget of $500.00 really limited my options, so the real estate agent understandably got very frustrated. Everything that was happening was so bazaar and incredible that most people really couldn’t believe it, but I knew it HAD to be a “God thing”, because nothing else made any sense. So at some point in that process, when something new would happen, I’d just laugh, because it was too unbelievable and I KNEW God HAD to be up to something! Even though the real estate agent was a Christian, my attitude did not impress him and he lost interest in helping me. Then someone I knew told me to contact another agent who was also a Christian and who specialized in rentals. We went out one day, but didn’t find anything that worked for one reason or another. And then on the Friday before I had to move by the following Wednesday, when I was really feeling the pressure, I agreed to take a place even though it was not that close to a bus route and I didn’t like it that much. But I felt like I had no other options and offered to give her a deposit and sign the paperwork. Much to my surprise, she said we’d wait to do that Monday (it was pretty late Friday afternoon). I asked if she was sure, because I didn’t want to take a chance of losing it, but she said it would be fine, that they would consider it rented. Well, I wasn’t really all that happy about it, but at least it was settled and I knew where I was moving, even though it was quite a long way out and I’d have to rely on friends for everything in terms of getting anywhere.

Then that night, a friend who had sort of fallen off the face of the earth for a couple of months called to see if she could come over to visit. Of course, I was glad to hear from her and looking forward to seeing her, even if more than a little surprised by her call. On the way to my house, she saw a car she was interested in buying, and since she participated in a financial counseling program for single mothers at our church, she called the lady in charge of the program to discuss buying the car. While they were on the phone, she mentioned that she was with me, and the counselor told her to tell me to check out a place just down the street from the church. I was familiar with the place she mentioned, but knew they were two bedroom condos, and knew that I couldn’t afford to live there, which I had my friend relay back to her. But the counselor told her that I should check it out anyway, because an unmarried couple had come in to the church earlier that day and they were very upset, because the owners wouldn’t rent to them because they weren’t married, so she thought they were Christians. And she said she thought it was in my price range too. Even though I really doubted that, I couldn’t help thinking of the strange things that had been happening, AND even how strange it was that my friend called after so long, AND she just “happened” to see the car on her way over to see me, AND she just “happened” to mention that she was at my house to the counselor, AND the couple just “happened” to come that day! Well, you guessed it…I called the next morning, and much to my surprise, the rent was only $500.00, so I made an appointment to see the condo that afternoon, and walked out of there with the keys!!! It was a wonderful two bedroom, two bath, corner unit condo on the second floor, and RIGHT on the bus route, about three blocks down from my church, and within walking distance to ALL sorts of shopping, and right on the edge of a little park! And as if that weren’t enough, they gave me immediate occupancy and didn’t charge me rent for the rest of the month, and they didn’t require both a security deposit AND last month’s rent, which everyone else was asking for! Naturally, I felt a little bad about the other apartment and that I had said I’d take it, but since I had offered to sign the contract and put down a security deposit, which the agent had refused, I knew it just wasn’t meant to be. And when I called the agent, she wasn’t at all upset about it and agreed that what I found was MUCH better for me; she was concerned about the other place being so far out too.

Well, so far this is an awesome testimony as it is, but there is more, a whole lot more! Several months after I moved into my new home with wonderful Christian landlords, the REAL reason for God’s provision became apparent. When I first moved, I was working two part time jobs (8:00am to 2:00pm and 4:00pm to 9:00pm), but the first one turned into a full time position, so I resigned from the second job. I was the office manager for a small business, and that required me to become a notary public, because our contracts and other legal documents often needed notarized signatures. I was the only Christian in the place though, and that created conflict between me and my boss from time to time. But what finally cost me my job was refusing to forge and notarize his signature on some very important and time sensitive documents while he was out of state.

After finding it very difficult to find another job, I decided to apply for assistance from the Division of Blind Services to start my own business, which was based on a concept I had developed at my last job (after years of praying for the Lord to give me an idea for my own business). But that was a very long and tedious process and my husband was still unable to make alimony payments, so I ended up being unable to pay my rent, and my wonderful, God provided, landlords carried me rent free for three months! And there’s NO WAY that would have happened anywhere else! And I was able to start a successful permit runner service, which supported me up until my vision deteriorated so much that I could no longer do the paperwork or compensate for the loss of vision.

For those of you who know me best, now you know why Romans 8:28 is my VERY favorite and most relied on scripture! Because the NASB says And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. That experience is what enables me to have absolute confidence in the Lord…NO MATTER WHAT! So when we see things happening around us that appear not to be very good, we need to consider the very likely possibility that it’s just the Lord closing doors so that His better and more perfect plan for our lives can be perfected! And we should always remember Ephesians 3:20-21, which says Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. And that experience, as well as how I saw the Lord pour out His infinite mercy and grace on Granny at the end of her life, certainly confirms Jeremiah 33:3 (NKJV), which says ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ And we could all save ourselves so much stress and turmoil if we’d just learn to follow the advice found in Psalm 46:10, which says “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Posted Friday, July 28th, 2006 at 11:29 pm in Seeds Of Faith.