believe

by Daniel Miller

John walked from the car to the house. He didn’t know what he was going to do but he knew that this was the last time he would take this trip. Time was no longer on his side. He knew that things were turning out different than the way he had planned but he knew that he was going to be alright. His job had gone away with the office closing. Unemployment would keep him going for a while but he would need to find work before too long. His kids were depending on him to provide all of their needs, one of them needing braces. How would he pay for the mortgage and how could he face his wife when he told her that they couldn’t go on their trip.

He turned back around and got back in the car and drove. He drove out of town and out to the lake where he left his boat. Maybe a couple of hours out on the lake would give him a better way to explain it all.

Stopping at the bait shop he got a couple dozen worms. Mark, the attendant, mentioned that he was not really dressed for fishing. John returned that he was just taking a short trip.

Getting out on the lake he thought about how much time he had spent at work making a living for a family of five. Long hours and working at home had raised him up the ladder to be the head of the sales department for the western region. Now that the company was being sold, he was told that the sales division would be taken over by an independent marketing firm.

John thought about how he first met his wife Sharon. She was standing near the tomatoes at her parents vegetable stand. He told her to put up a sign that read “ 1$ each or 5 for 5$”. The next day he came back. Seeing the sign he asked how it was working. Somehow people started buying tomatoes in groups of five. He asked her out and they started dating.

She attended a church and he started going just to be with her. After a year of hearing the Word he had accepted Christ as his Savior. That changed his life. He started living for God and became a singer in the choir. They got married about a year after he got saved and together they served the Lord. Sharon continued to sell vegetables at her parents stand basically taking over as they grew elderly and retired. When the chance came to move to the big city and become head of the sales department for Jamesco, came they shut down the small stand and followed his job. She gave up what she had worked for all of her life to stay with him. Now that opportunity was gone and he had to tell her that he was out of work.

John thought about how the old time prophets would go where God told them without thinking twice. Moses moved his whole family on a single command from the Lord. That much faith was beyond his understanding. John had been faithful with his tithes and made sure that they were paid even when he couldn’t afford it. He knew that by being faithful with this one thing that God would bless him beyond what he could imagine. God had blessed him. He had a big house and three beautiful children to fill it.

Michael was the oldest. He was twelve years old and liked to go fishing every chance he got. Mary was the eldest girl at eleven and was going to need braces next year. Caressa was eight and loved to play dolly with the stuffed animals that filled her room. The three of them would need to count on him for food and clothes. They needed to be able to count on him for everything. How could he go back home having to tell them what happened. How could he even explain it to them so that they could understand.

John started weeping right there out on his boat. Suddenly something tugged at him. Looking he realized that a fish was tugging at the line he had in the water. The distraction made him momentarily forget his problem. This was a big one. Working the line he brought the fish up to the side of the boat. Quickly grabbing the net he scooped the fish up revealing a twenty pound catfish. At least this would give him supper for a night to feed his family. Turning around to put the cat in the live well, his pocket Bible fell out. it opened up face down. After cleaning his hands he picked up the Bible. The words on the page stood out like a banner just for him. “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the gentiles seek) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

‘Take no thought’? wasn’t that what he was doing. Thinking of how he could not face his family and let them know that he couldn’t give them what they needed. He was just thinking about how his kids were counting on him to buy them new clothes. Here just before this scripture slapped him in the face God was giving him the food for his family. ‘For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of these things’. God understood that what John was really in need of, was to know that his family was taken care of. God supplied the need before John even knew what to do. John put the Bible back in its place and went back to shore. After hitching his boat up to the trailer he met Mark again.

“How’d it go out there? Catch anything?” Mark asked.

“Sure did. Take a look at that beauty.” John bragged opening the live well.

“You sure got a good one there.” The fish flopped. “Hey look at that. You know what that tag means?” Mark said pointing to the tag on the fish’s fin.

“No. I didn’t see it when I brung it in. What’s it for?”

“Do you remember last spring when we had the fishing contest out here? Well, for that contest we had some specially tagged fish go out for anglers to catch. The tagged fish came with prizes. Only two fish were left that got away. One was worth ten dollars. The other was worth the grand prize of ten thousand. The money was put in a savings account in town. If no one catches the tagged fish in the next year the parks department is to get the money to help with cleanup of the lake. Let me take a look here at the number. 114.”

“Well what did I win? “

“I’m not sure but I got to check with what I have down in my book in the office. Lets go take a look.”

John followed Mark into the office. Mark opened up the file cabinet, fumbled through some papers, and pulled out what he was looking for. “Here it is. Let me see. It looks like you won a grand total of… ten dollars. I told you, you was lucky.”

John let out a dejected sigh. He got his hopes up for nothing. Well, he thought, at least I have dinner for tonight.

Arriving back home John still didn’t know what to say to his family but he knew he would have to tell them the bad news. He would wait till after dinner was over. All through dinner Sharon could feel that something was wrong. John just said that there would be a family meeting after dinner and that he wouldn’t say anything more till then.

After dinner John sat the family down in the living room, “Honey, kids, I don’t know how to put this but to just say it plain. You know that some changes have been happening at the office. I found out today what my part of those changes are. My whole department found out today that the company has given the sales department’s duties to a marketing firm. I will no longer be working for Jamesco. I will be looking for work in a new office. Until then we will need to tighten our belts and get rid of some of the luxuries that we are enjoying now. The cable, and internet will have to go away for now. We can do without those for a while.”

“NO WAY!! I got to watch my shows. You cant do this to me.” Mary cried.

“I don’t care about the TV but what do you mean that you’re gonna get rid of the internet. I need that to talk to my friends on Myspace. You can’t do that to me neither. I wont let you.” Michael bawled.

“I know that this is going to be hard for a while, but we need to keep our bills down for now. You can watch regular TV for a while and you can go to the library to get on the internet if you need to. The library is just three blocks away.”

“Nooooo…” they both bellyached.

Caressa didn’t say anything but just cried.

Sharon gave a blank stare. She gave up her stand back at home to come here and have nothing. She could have made it there. John had a good job as a clerk at the store there. Together they made a good life for themselves. She turned to John and gave him an accusing stare. It was all his fault.

“We aren’t completely broke. We have some savings in the trip fund, and we have some bonds to cash in. we should be okay for a little while. We need to remember that God is in control and that he will give us what we need to live for Him. The Bible says that we will go through hard times but we will have peace through them if we only determine that we will serve God and continue to follow Him.”

“YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME!” Mary cried.

The next week John went to the employment office. He didn’t receive any good news there. With the economy in a downturn, he couldn’t find any open jobs with his qualifications. The only thing that even came close was to sell cell phone service at the mall. He would receive a small relief check through unemployment compensation.

“Lord it’s all in your hands.” He sighed as he left the building.

Driving out of the parking lot he saw a billboard for a hearing aid center. It was a father rejoicing over being able to hear with the new hearing aid he’d received. ‘I hear you.’ Was this God talking to him or was it just a coincidence?

Once he returned home he got the mail. The house payment was due and the electric bill was late. A reminder from the car dealer reminded him that the car payment was due next week. A thousand dollars was due now and another was due next week. How was he going to make those payments. POP! CRACKLE! What was that? It came from the kitchen.

“Not now.” Sharon exclaimed from the kitchen.

Rushing in John saw her kicking the fridge. It had a black mark on the side of it where it had shorted out. He quickly pulled on the cord to unplug it. Turning back to Sharon he saw the disappointment in her eyes. He moved to give him a reassuring hug but she pulled away turning away from him.

“I I I‘m sorry honey. We should be able to get it fixed under the warranty.”

“No we can’t. the warranty expired last month. Don’t you remember we were going to let it slide until we redid the whole kitchen this summer. Now what are we going to do?” Sharon asked holding back the tears.

“I’ll get it fixed. Or maybe we can find a good one at a used store. We only need to trust God to pull us through.” John assured.

Sharon walked away into the bathroom crying.

“Lord, I need you to pull us through this. I can’t do this on my own.” John prayed.

About an hour later John received a call from the employment office. An opening for a day job came open and he was getting the call. John took the opportunity to make at least enough to get the fridge fixed. He would have to show up to move an elderly couple’s belongings to their son’s home. He had a mansion and was moving them in so that he could take care of them.

John worked hard and fast. He impressed the son and talked to him while they moved the furniture.

“Do you know where we can take this refrigerator? It is only a year old and I hate to see it go to waste. We don’t have room for it. It works well and makes its own ice.”

“I have just the place to take it. Mine gave out yesterday. That’s why I took this job today. I need to get it fixed.”

“Its yours then. What type of work do you do?”

“I was the regional head of the sales department for Jamesco. They just handed the whole marketing over to another company to save money. I didn’t even get a weeks notice. They just came in and let the whole department know on the spot.”

“I know what you mean. I started years ago in an office that did the same thing. They came in and let us know that they were closing the whole office and moving it overseas. After ten years I found that I was starting all over again. I took my life savings and started my own company. It was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“I don’t know if I could do that. I have two kids and a wife to take care of. Do you know anyplace that needs an excellent salesman? I can sell anything you need me to.”

“I have an opening for a sales clerk, but it is only an entry level spot. It wouldn’t pay much and it is only part time. Mostly we hire high school kids for it.”

“I understand. The only sales job at the unemployment office was for a clerk at a cell phone kiosk at the mall. Something will come up. I have the Lord working on my side.”

“You believe in that stuff huh? I never go to church. I don’t like all that religious stuff.”

“I agree with you. I don’t care for religion either. Religion has caused too many problems. I do believe in God and the saving power of his Son Jesus Christ.”

“I don’t get what you mean.”

“Well, religion and belief are two different things. Religion is what you say you believe and belief is what you act upon. For instance, you can tell someone that fire is hot and will burn them. They can say that they believe you but they will still touch it and get burned. Belief is when you act upon what you say. If you already know that fire is hot you wont touch the fire again. You act on what you believe. If you believe that you will get caught for speeding you will not go over the speed limit. If you don’t believe that you will get caught you have a tendency to speed. The speed limit is the same. The rules are the same but it is that belief that you act upon. You follow what you believe. Religion is just what you say you believe.”

“I get it. If you say something is heavy but I try to pick it up by myself, I don’t believe you. If you say that something is heavy and I get some, help I act on the belief that it is heavy.”

“That’s right. I believe that God is real and will help me to follow him. I act on that belief and He has not let me down yet. For instance, yesterday my fridge went out. Today I have someone who didn’t know my situation offer me one. God provided for me even when there was no way for it to happen by what I had.”

“That is something to think about. I think it was just a coincidence. I‘ve been trying to get my parents to move in here for a while and knew I would have to get rid of some of their things. Its jus a coincidence. What else have you got?”

“Last week when I found out about the layoff, I didn’t want to face my family with the news. I went fishing to figure out how I was going to break it to them. I was wondering how I was going to feed them when I didn’t have a job anymore. Just then, I felt a tug on the line and my pocket Bible fell out. I had a twenty pound catfish on the line left over from the fishing derby last fall. When I picked up my Bible, the words on the page stood out like a banner just for me. ‘Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the gentiles seek) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.’ There I was wondering how I was going to feed my family and God provided the food for me. Just to top it off the fish had a tag on it for an unclaimed prize of ten dollars. It paid for the gas and the bait.”

“That’s a good story. You seem to have the luck. How are you going to pay your bills next month? Is money going to fall from the sky?”

“I believe that God will provide a way no matter what happens. He’s done it before and he will do it again. He is in charge of everything.”

“If God is so good, why is there a hell?”

“God created hell to punish the wicked, but he also made a way for the wicked to escape hell’s torments. That is why Jesus came to earth. God took on the form of man to pay the price for sin on the cross. He died and spent three days in hell to pay for man’s sin.”

“So I can do anything and get away with it.”

“No. Its not that way. Jesus is a gift from God to man. If I were to say that I was going to give you a gift and held it out to you in my hand, what would make it yours?”

“It would be mine right away, just as soon as I took it.”

“That’s just the way that Jesus is. God’s hand is holding the gift for you but it will not be yours until you receive it. Until you receive Jesus Christ you will not have the gift of salvation. You can claim it all you want but you wont have it until you receive it and take it for yourself.”

“I don’t know. Pray for me.”

Later John was in the kitchen when Sharon came home from picking the children up from school. Walking into the kitchen she gasped.

“John? How did you get this? I thought we didn’t have the money. What did you do, steal it?”

“God answered our prayers. I prayed for the money to get the old fridge fixed. I got a call for a spot job today. It was helping to move an elderly couple in with their rich son. they didn’t have the room for two refrigerators and asked me where I could get rid of this one for free. It’s the same one that we were looking at to buy. Coming home I saw a sign for taking away old appliances. The old one is gone and God gave us a better one than we had.”

“I don’t believe it. How much did you give him for it?”

“I told you that he gave it to us. He even paid me a hundred dollars on top of it. He wouldn’t take no for an answer. God sure is good to us.”

“Praise God.” Sharon sighed.

“Did you get the mail this morning?” John asked.

“Yeah. I picked it up on the way out to take the kids to school. You got something from the parks department.”

“Oh that’s the papers from the fish I caught last week. I caught a fish with a tag on it left over from a fishing contest. I won a ten dollar prize. Mark said that I would get them in the mail to sign.”

Opening the letter he read the big red letters ‘OUR GRAND PRIZE WINNER’. What? He read the letter:

Dear Mr. Jacobs,

I am happy to inform you of the result of your tagged prize. Due to a clerical error we gave you the wrong interpretation for your number. The attendant that informed you of the prize was given the wrong information. Your tag was that of the grand prize here is the check for the remainder of your winnings thank you for your understanding.

Sincerely,

Samuel Samuelson

The check was written for the amount of nine thousand nine hundred and ninety dollars. The difference between what Mark had given him and the real prize that he had won. John fell down on his knees praising God.

The next week came with John and his family attending their local church and making sure to pay their tithes. They even paid for a new wheelchair ramp to be built for the church entrance. John explained over and over to anyone that would listen, how God had provided for his family.

When he returned home from services, John saw a message on his recorder. He decided to let it wait for later, he was getting ready to take the family out fishing for the afternoon. Mark was happy to see him with his family and in a better mood.

“Sorry for the mix up. They gave me the wrong paper. Glad to see you got the big one. That was pretty fortunate for you. I told you was lucky. The fish are really biting today. Out on the west shore they’ve caught a few of the big ones. Most have been using catfish bait but some have been having luck with chicken liver.” Mark commented.

“God sure has been good to us. You needing any help out here? I could use the work.” John asked.

“Now that you mention it I did have a customer say that he was wanting some help with his store. Seems he just bought out a chain and needs someone to run it for him. We were talking about your fish. Said he was looking everywhere but he wanted someone that knew the area. I gave him your number. I heard you was looking for work. I hope it was okay?”

“Yeah, I could use any lead I can get. Thanks for the mention. If he comes back in give him my card here.”

“Will do. He’s still out on the lake. He owns that big ford out there. He’s hauling one of them house boats. Its red with a white trim if you see him out there.”

Out on the lake John got a call on his cell phone.

“Is this John Jacobs?” The voice said on the line.

“Yeah, this is John. Who is this?”

“Name’s David Reynolds. You don’t know me but I heard about you. You were the top man at Jamesco. I did the research. While you were in charge, the sales went up twenty percent. I don’t know why that fool over there let you go but I know you are looking for work. The bait shop man and I were talking and he mentioned you to me. I looked you up to offer you a position. I’m in town to get things rolling for Market Place Foods. Our regional manager quit to start his own business and I’m in a rut to find someone competent to run the district. We’ve got ten stores in the local area but you will need to travel to the other fifteen in the region. The position pays twenty thousand a year more than they were giving you over there at Jamesco. You get full health insurance with an expense card. You get three weeks paid vacation every year. You have your choice of company cars. You can have a red, white, or black Mustang or a black Mercedes. I need the kind of umph that you gave to Jamesco. Do you think you can come out to the lake and meet me on my boat this afternoon?”

“Where are you at? I’m out here with my family to fish.”

“I’m out on the west end of the lake near some log cabins. We rented them for the month. I got some steaks grilling for a company picnic. Come on over and feed your family. We got more than we can eat. you’ll know us by the big red houseboat. Follow the smoke to the back of the cabin for the feast.”

“I know the place. We’ll be there in about ten minutes.”

Later John left the picnic with a new career and a dozen frozen t-bone steaks.

When we are faithful to our Heavenly Father he is faithful to us. He knows what we need and has already planned how we are to go through the trials and tribulations that face us each day. God is in control. He is the source of our blessings. When we put our trust in Him he is more than able to give us what we need to serve Him. He knows that we have need of food and clothing. He knows what our needs are before we do. He will provide everything that we need. When we put our trust in him he will give us blessings over and above our needs.

God also knows that we have need of greater faith. He will allow us to go through trials to test us and teach us to trust in him completely. When we were saved we put our trust in him to save our souls. This is the beginning of faith. We are to grow in faith and to continue to follow Him through the trials. He never said that it would be easy, but he did say that he would give us peace beyond understanding when they came.

If you have not put your trust in Christ for your salvation you are on your own. God will be with those that are his children. If you want to have this peace and hope you must ask Christ to be your Lord and Savior and accept the gift that was given on the cross of Calvary. He will change your life and make you a new person with new hope and joy.