Is God bigger than 4,500 rubles?

I was poor as a student – I only had money to buy very simple, humble food to live on while in college and had money for very little else (I ate a lot of ‘ramen noodles’ as a student!).   When I first heard about how much the cost was to go on a student Christian retreat, I was so disappointed because I knew that there was no way I could afford to go.  My Bible study leader quickly reminded me that God owned ‘the cattle on a thousand hills’ (Ps. 50:10) – and since He was so rich as to own thousands of large herds of cows, surely He could afford to give me the $30 (1,000 rubles) to go on the retreat.  I asked Him if He would provide the money for me.  My Bible study leader set up an appointment for me to go to talk to a business man in our community and tell him why I wanted to go to the student retreat but that I didn’t have the money to go – and he quickly pulled out his wallet and handed me $30.  I then understood that God was bigger than $30!

The next amount I had to trust God for was $200 (6,000 rubles) to go to the Winter Bible Conference…so I prayed and waited on God and talked to some believers in my church about the opportunity I had to be challenged to grow in my relationship with God – and they pulled out their wallets and I ended up with the $200 needed to pay for conference registration.  And now I was certain that God was bigger than $200!

A few years later I was leading a Bible study and a girl named Sandy was in my group.  She wanted to go the Winter Bible Conference, but money was an issue for her as well.  I told her how God had proved Himself faithful to provide for me, so we prayed, she wrote some letters (explained below) to some believers, waited to hear from them.  The day came to get on the bus to ride up to the conference site which was 3 hours away.  She had only $250 of the $350 (10,000 rubles) needed to pay for the conference…but she was so convinced that God wanted her to go to the conference that she believed He would provide along the way somehow.  In an act of faith, she start climbed up the steps to the bus with her suitcase in hand…and someone on the bus handed her the last $100 that she needed for the conference registration!  God proved Himself faithful to her!  Sandy knew that God was bigger than $350.

Over the years I had had to trust God to provide financially for me.  As a missionary, my salary is provided through people who give financially to me every month.  I once figured out that, counting all the money needed for international mission trips plus the money I received to live on as a long-term missionary, that God will provide around $1,000,000 for me during my lifetime.  I know that God is bigger than $1 million dollars!

(Of course sometimes God has provided without me asking anyone to consider being a part financially of His provision.  Most of the time, though, God has provided as I trust Him and step out in faith to ask others to help financially.)

How big is your God?  Is He bigger than 4,500 rubles?

Raising funds for conferences will direct you to some things you can do, similar to what Sandy and I did, to ask God to provide and to provide through other people. 

·         Pray and ask God if He wants you to go to the Winter Bible Conference. 

·         Check out the information about raising funds for retreats and conferences. 

·         Start following the advice listed out in the materials there. 

·         If you have any questions, please send them to me:  catalist@promail.ru.   I will do all that I can do to help you trust God in this area. 

Of course I will be praying for you and will be anxious to hear how God is showing Himself bigger than you ever imagined.  I can’t wait to hear your stories of God’s faithfulness to you!