As If It Is.

This article was sent to my inbox and with permission from the sender, I decided to share it. God bless you as you read.



By Nyx Martinez

My flight to Uganda was booked for the first week of April, less than two weeks away. It was late morning as I sat in my room, counting the money in my wallet.

I was trying to get from Thailand to East Africa to continue my Christian volunteer work there, and God had told me He would provide the money. But my present volunteer work didn't bring in the kind of cash I needed for plane fare to the other side of the planet.

I needed $500 for three final things: the rest of my air fare, a visa for Uganda, and a suitcase. I had already spent a good part of the day worrying about where the money for those things was going to come from.

Coffee break, I thought. Somebody tell me it wasn't completely crazy to book an airline ticket without cash in hand to pay for it.

As I made my way towards the kitchen for that coffee, a friend passed me in the hall and handed me an Activated magazine. "Need something to read on your day off?"

"Sure," I mumbled as I took the magazine from her. I skimmed its cover, and these words grabbed my attention: PUT GOD ON THE SPOT. BELIEVE IT OR NOT, HE LIKES IT!

Intrigued, I walked back into my bedroom, forgetting the coffee. I flipped through the magazine until I came to "Proceed as if Possessing," and I began to read.

The article by Virginia Brandt Berg was familiar. I had read an illustrated version as a child. It told of a young woman named Etta who acted on her faith and put God to the test. Etta had believed so strongly that He would provide the travel funds she needed that she had booked a ticket and gathered her things to take even before she had a suitcase. And God had not failed her. At the last minute she was given a suitcase and money for her ticket and she was on her way, aboard God's unfailing promises.

I don't have a suitcase yet, either, I thought. This story could have been written for me! The answer to my problem was right there. "Proceed as if possessing! When you have asked God for something, take action. Act on your faith."

As I reread those words aloud, I asked myself, How should I "act out my faith"?

Pack your things and put God on the spot. The answer was that straightforward.

It was worth one more try, one more prayer. Would it work? It had to. I grabbed my journal and began to write:

Dear God, I want to proceed as if possessing. I want to have faith that You will provide, but my deadline is coming up soon and I still need a few more miracles.

1. The rest of my airfare to Uganda.

2. Money for a visa.

3. A suitcase (just like Etta needed).

Your Word promises, "According to your faith, it is done for you." I believe, so can You please give me enough money to cover those expenses? Thank You.

Done. It was as simple as sending an email to my dad, requesting extra allowance. I closed my journal, satisfied that my Father above had heard and would answer. I spent the rest of the day on travel plans and packing what I planned to take to Africa into an empty space in a cupboard.

It's been a good day, I thought as I sat down to dinner. It was about to get better.

"Something came in the mail for you today," a friend said.

I took the letter, opened it quickly, and swallowed hard. I'm sending $500. For a moment I couldn't think straight. The food in my mouth wouldn't go down.

My friends looked at me quizzically. "What is it?"

"Does God love me, or what?" I exclaimed. "He … just gave me … $500! This morning I prayed for 500 dollars--just six hours ago!" Someone in another country had heard that I needed funds to get to Africa, and they had written days earlier to say that they were giving me $500.

I was ecstatic. That night I turned the pages in my journal to that written prayer and sat in awe at how my Benefactor had provided. Grabbing my pen, I marked off all three requests:

1. The rest of my airfare to Uganda. Check!

2. Money for a visa. Check!

3. A suitcase (just like Etta needed). Check!

Was it a coincidence that I had prayed for that sum the very morning the letter arrived? Would the letter and funds have arrived anyway, had I not prayed? Or was it a case of "Before they call, I will answer"? (Isaiah 65:24).

Believe what you will, but I'm convinced that God had set things in motion days earlier because He had known I was going to put Him on the spot. In fact, I'm sure that He engineered the whole thing--that He caused me to be desperate for His help, pointed me to His unfailing promises through that Activated article, got me to "proceed as if possessing," and then came through with just what I needed (not too much and not too little), and right on time!

When my departure date came I was on a plane bound for faraway Uganda. That ticket in my hand, my prized possession, was real. And so are His promises.










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You can contact the author on

www.activated.org

www.thefamily.org

www.thefamilyinternational.org




Have a blessed day.