Work and God - A Monument to Remind Me

A couple of weeks ago, I received an award at work – for five years of service. It’s a nice way of recognising those who have stayed with the company for a number of years. They also give awards for ten years, and fifteen years. It struck me, that not only have the last five years gone quickly, but if I add up the time at my previous jobs since graduation, I find that I have been working for nine years! It seems only yesterday that I was at University. That’s almost a decade in the work force.

In the Old Testament, the Israelites used to mark special occasions and places with a monument. Whenever they saw that monument, they would remember God’s faithfulness, and be inspired to continue to trust Him.

This strikes me as a good time to do the same, so I am going to reminisce a moment about how God has led me to this point. When nearing graduation I applied for a position with the Australian Bureau of Statistics. I had applied for a position in Hobart but was offered a position in Canberra. This would have been a huge adventure, but it also would have taken me away from my home and everything I knew. I felt a strong commitment to Tasmania, and to my church, and wasn’t sure I was ready to leave m family. Through much painstaking thought and prayer I decided to turn down the offer. Finding a position in Tasmania would not be easy; there were much more numerous opportunities for programmers on the mainland. I waited.

I found, and successfully applied for a job with a very small business, running out of Launceston, with interstate clients. When I started, there were four employees. At its height, the company employed seven people. I worked on many interesting projects in this job, and learned a great deal. After two years, the company did not have enough work to sustain us all. I was told one morning, that I would have to leave. I was given the opportunity to go straight home, or continue working for the remainder of my time. I decided to stick around. By the next day, one of my colleagues had convinced the remaining employees to each take a pay-cut so that I could remain on staff. This was a huge gesture, but it wasn’t until I had a family of my own that I fully appreciated what a significant sacrifice this was. I continued working there for another year, before I was told that the company just couldn’t keep me any longer.

This happened at a very bad time for me. I had recently met Linda. She was moving to Tasmania to be near me and we were planning to get engaged shortly after her arrival. How could I support a wife who was far from home when I didn’t have a job?

I spoke to a friend from my church, Paul, who ran a computing business. His company didn’t do programming, but they did have a close relationship with another company that did. He said he’d keep his ear open and mention my name to them if the opportunity arose. That company was pitt&sherry.
Well, pitt&sherry were not on the lookout for anybody at the time, but I tried ringing another company we had worked closely with during my first three years. They knew me, and although they were not seeking a new programmer, they were willing to take me on as they valued my abilities.

I worked for two years in this small company, learning different skills. Linda and I married and we were expecting our first child. The company that I was now working for was about to close, not for lack of work, but because the core leaders wanted to move on and do other things. Again, this was a very bad time. I would soon have a child to support as well. I could see God’s plan working in the lives of all involved, so I chose to trust again.
I sent my resume to a couple of places, with a strong letter of recommendation from my current boss, who was known to them. I never received a reply. While I was working my last week, I received an un-expected phone call; it was from the Software Development Manager at pitt&sherry. He’d received my name from Paul, and was wondering if I might be interested in a job. He was surprised when I told him that my current job was ending in a couple of days so I was very interested. I hadn’t thought about Paul’s promise to keep me in mind during the last two years, but the timing was absolutely perfect. I started at pitt&sherry where I have now worked for five years.

Looking back, I can see God’s hand working intricately, with a great touch of His good sense of humour. Now whenever I look at my engraved wooden pen box, I can be reminded of God’s faithfulness.v It’s been an eventful nine years. I wonder what the next decade will bring.

Sharing and Generosity

My daughter Chloe is growing up so fast. It is exciting to see her begin to mature. I observed something in her the other day that impressed me. We were at the supermarket. Both kids were tired and crabby so we were trying to get through our fortnightly groceries quickly. To distract the kids we sometimes let them hold items. Harrison was holding something, I can't remember what it was. We had just grabbed a packet of buscuits from the shelf and had handed it to Chloe. Harrison immediately saw them and began to cry and protest. "Biccies! I want biccies!"

Straight away, Chloe handed the packet to her little brother. He stopped crying. I thought this showed a great deal of maturity for a four year old. It seemed that Chloe had enough generosity, not only to share, but to give away something to make somebody else happy. It occurred to me that she must understand that ultimately the biccies were mine, regardless of who was holding them at the time. She knew that when she got hungry, she could come to me and I would give her one, so there was no reason to clutch them closely to herself. This made me very proud.

I begin to understand a little of what it means to have 'the faith of a little child.'

Starting Now - Part 2 (new home for the homeless)

Almost a year ago to the day, I wrote an article titled 'Starting Now'. In it, I discussed the ministry of Levi House. This ministry of my church exists to provide "a safe & effective refuge for Launceston's homeless". At the time of writing, the ministry was still a dream. There had been attempts to purchase a building to use as a homeless shelter, but it had fallen through. The thing that impressed me about the people behind Levi House was that they were not just sitting and waiting for the dream to happen, they were doing what they could - no matter what it was - to make a difference straight away.

Since that time, I have volunteered to become a small part of the ministry, serving meals once a month. It has been a powerfully impacting experience for me.

Now, a year on, an exciting step has occured in the realisation of the full dream of Levi House. As announced today, the Commonwealth Government have donated four million dollars to turn part of our church building into a home for the homeless. That picture that the leaders saw all that time ago is now going to become a reality. For me, this is a personal answer to prayer. It is exciting to think of the lives that have been touched over the last year, and interesting that if the leaders hadn't started with what they had, we may never have gotten to this point. It goes to show that as Jesus said, those who are faithful with a little will be blessed with more.

As for me, I've learned that it is better to feed one hungry person a meal, than to sit and day-dream about feeding all the hungry of the world.

There are exciting times ahead.

Starting Now

My church has a dream. It is called Levi House. It was started by a group of people with a heart for the homeless. The aim of Levi House is to "Provide a safe & effective refuge for Launceston's homeless".

This is a large long-term dream. The facility is yet to be constructed. The finance does not yet exist to make this dream a reality. The thing that impresses me about the people behind this ministry is that they have already started.

Many of us have dreams. This is good. I believe it is important for us to dream big and allow God to grow our faith by placing lofty goals in our hearts. This gives us something to strive for, something to work toward. Dreams like this give us reason to get up in the morning.

Sometimes however, we can fall into the trap of thinking that because the goal of making that dream a reality is so far off in the distance that we fail to take any action now. The team behind Levi House are doing more than talking. They are not just waiting for the opportunity to present itself. Seeing the need that exists in our community, they could not sit by and do nothing. They have not yet made the dream a complete reality, but they are doing what they can; right now. Homeless people are put up in motels or caravans (our church is situated next door to a caravan park) and now, people are volunteering their time to care for homeless people of an evening, giving them a place to stay within our church facility.

Often when we have these dreams we can make a start straight away. It may just be a small thing, but it is a first step and it will lead to greater things. It's like Jesus said in Luke 16:10. "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much." The Levi House team are certainly being faithful with what they have, and I have no doubt that God will make their complete dream a reality in His time.

Another couple in my church took a step of faith and become involved in a short mission trip to Africa. That has now led to them running an organisation called Villages of Hope; which provides housing for widows and orphans in Burundi, which could be described as the poorest country in the world.

These people have not allows the grand dream to cripple them into inaction, they have allowed it to inspire them to begin, one step at a time, and amazing things have grown as a result.

People like these inspire me. It is through their example that God has challenged me today with this message. I hope it challenges you too.

References
Scripture taken from The HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION Copyright (C) 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers

http://www.levihouse.org.au/

http://www.villagesoflife.org/

Looking in the Wrong Direction

Mark 8:1-10 Read it...

I was just reading the story of the feeding of the four thousand. Apart from a few numbers and places, the account is very similar to the feeding of the five thousand. You could be forgiven for thinking somebody just put the same story in the Bible twice, except for the fact that a little later on, Jesus refers to both as separate events.

The thing that astounds me in this story is the disciples. They knew Jesus had fed five thousand men (plus women and children) with a few loaves of bread and fish. Now, they have a few extra loaves and a smaller croud. Yet they say "How can we feed these people?" Have they forgotten? Do they think Jesus has lost his touch? Surely they should have said "Lord it's time for you to do that thing you do again."

It's easy to judge the disciples and think "how thick can they be" until I examine my own life. So often I face a problem or a need and start to freak out. I know God has provided in the past, so why do I get so stressed? I think it's because I'm looking at the problem. The problem seems so huge. It's like a monster hovering over me. That monster could crush me with one stomp of its thick sinewy legs.

If I turn around, however, and look at God, I see that he is so unbelievably huge that the problem appears microscopic. I see all the times in the past where God has provided. I see that God loves me and wants the best for me.

Bill Hybels had an experience like this once, which he details in his book "Too Busy not to pray" [1]. He had to stop looking at his need and start looking at his God. This was the same God who had created the universe just by the authority of His words. The God who had come up with a rescue plan to save humanity from doom by sacrificing his own Son. When he did this, his fear melted away and he was filled with confidence. God gave him a miracle that day.

Faith is never easy. Stepping out on a limb nd trusting God is one of the hardest and un-natural acts that humans take; but when we see the evidence of God's faithfulness it becomes easier. The more often we trust, the bigger that body of evidence gets, and the more natural it is to expect a miracle.


[1] Hybels, Bill. Too Busy not to Pray. Slowing down to be with God. Inter-Varsity Press. 1998.

A Testimony of God's Faithfulness

This year has started with a lesson in faith and dependance on God.

It was a warn sunny day and my wife and I were enjoying some rare time alone. Just as we climed out of the car Linda's phone began to ring. It was the child-care centre. They had noticed some discharge coming out of our daughter Chloe's ear. It wasn't serious enough for them to send her home but it would probably have to be examined by a doctor. When we collected Chloe and her brother from child-care that night we realised how bad it had become.

Out of concern we rang a free children's medical hotline. After speaking with a nurse and then a doctor, we were informed that Chloe would need to see her GP tomorrow. This presented us with some challenges. This was an expense we had not budgeted for and were currently in a difficult financial situation. Usually in this type of situation we would simply withdraw some money from our special savings account, but tomorrow was new year's day and the banks would not be open, and the account required us to sign in person. To complicate matters further, my parents were out of town so if we were to borrow some money from them we would have to drive out to their caravan, which would put a strain on our already limited petrol reserves. There was no money in the house and the cheque we had recently deposited would not clear until the end of the week.

We lay down on the bed that night praying together. We knew that God loved our daughter, even more than we did. We knew he had promised in the bible to provide for our needs, and we knew that in the past he had proven himself to us many times. We chose to trust God to provide a solution and went to sleep.

The next morning we rang the doctor's surgery and made an appointment for the limited clinic that night, believing in faith that God would help us. There was some money in our normal account, but it was due to be taken out by a direct-debit scheduled for tonight. I briefly considered withdrawing this money and wearing the fee when the direct-debit found insufficient funds. It would work, but perhaps God had a better option.

I sat reading a book about the prayer life of Jesus. As I read and prayed, my thoughts wandered to Matthew 6:26 "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" At the same time, Linda was praying in another room. God said to her "Go look in the rent folder". She immediately remembered that we had some cash set aside, hidden in the rent folder, to pay for steam-cleaning of the carpets at some point in the future when we move out of our house.

We looked in the folder, not remembering how much was in there. It was only five dollars short. We found enough coins in our wallets, Chloe's money box and the glove box of the car to make up the five dollars. God had provided using money we forgot we had.

There are times that I feel I am extremenly undeserving of God's provision and blessing, but as the Bible says "If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" Matthew 7:11.

God is definately our provider.


Scripture taken from New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society