Sept 11/2000

A $10,000 raise

Every week Robert and I set aside one evening to have our own prayer meeting. We spend time thanking the Lord for His benefits and then we pray for different items – our kids, extended family members, our church, our work/ministry, and our supporters – the people God has given us to support us financially. We pray that God will bless them for their faithfulness to us. We pray that God will protect them, restore their broken relationships, keep them in divine health, prosper their businesses, give them increased sales, promotions, commissions, bonuses, and raises.

Imagine our delight when a lovely couple, who support us faithfully each month reported that the husband got an unexpected salary increase. Jack* was working busily at his desk one day recently, when his boss stopped by and said, “I have something for you.” Jack opened the envelope and then his eyes widened in astonishment. It wasn’t even the time of year to receive raises! He quickly called his wife at home to report the good news. Jill* did some fast calculating and said, “Do you realize that comes to a $10,000 per year raise?”

If you support us financially, we can’t guarantee that God will give you a $10,000 raise. We also pray some other things for our supporters – that God will give them a ‘hunger and thirst after righteousness’ and that they will ‘follow hard after God’. Sometimes in order for God to answer that prayer He has to lead us through hard times. But be assured that ‘joy comes in the morning’.

*Not their real names.