As life moves forward, those of us that have put our faith in God tend to get a little… impressed with ourselves. We start taking our blessings for granted and, if you are like me, start patting ourselves on the back for how well things are going. We lose sight of who is really in control. And then God tends to reel us in a notch or two.

Recently, my friend Michael Fletcher wrote in a Facebook meme (may not be exact):

“I have been a follower of Jesus Christ since I was 8 years old. Some years I have been more successful at it than others. Thankfully, there is GRACE.”

Thankfully. Yeah Michael. No kidding!!! I tend to be less successful at it than I am successful. More often than not, the fact that I am a Christian is lost on the people around me, especially at work. It is my “blemish”. It is something I need to aggressively work on.

What I have also found in my life, is that I “bank on grace”. I take it for granted. Or even use it as an excuse to do something I know I shouldn’t. Because I know God will forgive. But that is another article all together.

Recently, I have been “reeled in by God”. I had become complacent and comfortable with how well things were going and I was doing it thank you very much. I was cocky. It was showing at home, it was showing at church. I was proud of how good I was at church and when someone questioned me I was appalled at the idea that the would even consider that.

And sometimes, when God reels us in, He gives us blessings that just astound. Sometimes you have to look a little to find them. Other times they jump in your face and yell “YO!” This is a YO moment.

Part I

My wife is self employed and works from home. She is a daycare provider. Right around the first of December, we learned that two of our clients would be leaving us on January 5th. That’s a rather large blow to the monthly budget.

We started advertising for new clients and Katie started adjusting the bills. Cut back here, cancel this membership, work a little extra here. She said, “We’ll be alright if we’re careful.” I started worrying. I literally was making myself sick worrying about just how careful we would have to be to be able to pay our bills.

At my church we were going through a series of lessons called “Finding your way this Christmas“. Part of that series touched on making sure you follow God’s way. Not your own. Because we will always manage to screw it up. Another part was about being there for other people. “It ain’t all about you”. Sometimes, you need to be there for other people with all your failures. That’s not comfortable.

Part of letting God lead your life, is having the faith to let God lead your life. Give it to Him. Everything. Worrying is a sin. It is clearly showing a lack of faith in God.

Somewhere along the line after I learned that we would “be ok if we’re careful”, I gave it to God. Just handed it to Him. Here God. Take this and deal with it and let me know what I need to do. Done. And some days were less “done” than others but I was trying.

Part II

A new family at our church had just moved into the area. Husband was offered a job here in Hampton Roads but it went away for whatever reason and he was unemployed. Wife was working two part time jobs while their family lived with relatives. They had little to no money, no health insurance and were facing pretty bleak times. A pretty skimpy Christmas for the kids.

Wife never gave up hope and her faith, at least from what I could tell, faltered very little if any. She was always in church with a smile, always at our small study groups, always praising God for what she did have and didn’t focus on what she didn’t.

The small group decided to put some stuff together for them as a group and give them a lift up. We did. And it did. It felt good to lift someone else up. And she and her family were truly grateful.

Within the last two weeks two events occurred. Husband was offered a full time position and he accepted. Wife was moved from part time to full time in her job and was given a full benefits package. The blessings were rolling in for this family.

Where all this comes together…

Right after we learned that we would be losing two of our clients, I put up an advertisement at work for an opening. The next day or so Katie was interviewing a new client and they signed up immediately. Katie said we would still have to be careful but it wasn’t quite so critical and we could do it with just the one client.

Just this week, the wife from Part II above called. Now that she and her husband were working full time… she needed childcare. Full time. Starting the first of the year.

Two families, very clearly and profoundly blessed by God in the same series of events. It is just incredible for me to sit back and look at these events and be amazed. God took two families, and in His plan blessed both of them. Nothing is too great for my God to accomplish and I am just in awe. There is no way this is coincidence. There is no way, these events are random. It’s part of a plan far bigger than you and I.

And for me, completely outside the realm of logic that I tend to live in. It has to be God.