I wonder how many times something like this has happened in your life. It's happened to me
more often than I like to admit. I believe when we get to heaven and "know even as also we are known" we will be
amazed at what we could have been and what could have been accomplished in us and through us if we had only believed. Remember
these words? Mark 9:23 "Jesus said to him, "If you can believe,
all things are possible to him who believes."
How often do we limit
and hinder our great God by our unbelief?
Psalm 78:40-42 "How
often they provoked Him in the wilderness, And grieved Him in the desert! Yes, again and again they tempted
God, And limited the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember His power: The day when He redeemed them from the enemy,"
Here's a true, but sad story of my unbelief...
When
I first started in full time evangelism I wrote a book called "The Kingdom is Coming." We printed the first
copies of the book at our church, then contracted a local printer to print an additional 1,000 copies. We were to pay
for the books as we received them and were able to sell them. I had taken about half of the books but then was unable
to raise the funds to pay for the rest. The printer kept the books and for several months we had no contact.
When the Lord began to do a work in my life in 1976, I became convicted that I still
owed the printer for the other 500 books and that I should settle the debt. I called the printer and told him of my
conviction and he very graciously agreed to allow me to have the remaining books and the printing plates for the future copies.
I had enough money to pay for the books, but very little over and above that amount. I went to the printer and
apologized for the inconvenience and started to write him a check for what I owed. The printer said, "Pay me all
or any part of what you owe." I thought for a moment and realized that if I paid the entire bill I wouldn't have
any money left, so I decided to pay the man $100 and pay the rest later. The man smiled and assured me that I could
make the decision as to how much I would pay.
When I wrote the check
and handed it to him, he turned it over, signed it and handed it back to me and said, "I prayed about this before you
came today and God told me to give you back the check that you gave me, no matter what the amount. You could have written
it for the entire amount and I would have given it back, but since you didn't, you now owe me the amount that you decided
not to pay today." I left the print shop kicking myself for not trusting God. I pinned that check on the
wall beside my desk and left it there for a long time, with a note written in red ink that said, "HAVE FAITH DUMMY."
I wanted to remind myself to trust God and do what's right, no matter what the circumstances.
Please Lord,
use this to encourage someone, somewhere to trust you in spite of the circumstances!
