What amazing displays of GRACE

All day today, my heart has been heavy. I have had worry on my mind. All day I have been trying to figure out how to help a dear friend that has been in need of a job and a new home. Being part of the construction business (somewhat indirectly), when the economy plunged, her job security went to pot. She was forced to find a new job. Fortunately, after a long period of waiting, she did find a job. BUT...Shortly after about 90 days of having this new job, she got laid off. Never mind that this all happened right after Thanksgiving and just in time for Christmas. She has an adolescent son at home and is a single parent. If my heart has been heavy, imagine what her heart has been feeling like. Just this past weekend, she received the dreaded FORECLOSURE notice on her beautiful, cozy home. You would think that all hope would be lost. But I tell you, we serve a wonderful, loving God.
After all my day of angst and worry trying to figure out how to help my friend, I should have realized that all I had to do was stop, breath and pray. God already knew what was on my heart!I have really been praying for my friend for over a year now. God KNEW that she was worrying about finding a home, losing her own home, providing food and necessities for her child and lets not forget that Tis the season...Christmas is only 9 days away!!
I have been talking to people all day today to see if they knew anyone that was hiring. I spoke to my friend a couple of times today about jobs and moving. I collected some moving boxes for her. My first instinct and desire is to just RESCUE her and her family from their situation. I would love nothing more than to be able to purchase their home for them so they would always have a place to live. I would also love to be able to use some sort of mythical connections that I have with the working world to set her up with a job. But seeing as I didn't win the lottery this past week and I really don't "know people..." I couldn't do either. BUT....tonight in talking to a group of ladies from the church, one of them mentioned that they had a little rental house that was available. She told me that she usually ended up renting to single moms that God sent in her and her husband's direction. I felt such amazement at this. This profound, amazing creation of God's! God has been working in my friend's life for so long. Like most of us, she has had some really rough periods of questioning and rattling of her faith. Why couldn't God just answer her prayers NOW???? Why has he allowed her to suffer so for so long? And although she realized the answers to those questions rather immediately, she still had to wait. But God has been good to her. He has been providing for her and her son. Now she has not been showered with MORE than she needed. She had been giving exactly what she NEEDED. In life we should always stop and ask ourselves if we are praying for what we NEED or what we WANT. God will always provide what we NEED if indeed that's what it is.
I am just shocked and awed at how today played out. Granted, my friend still needs to find a job. But I KNOW that this will come. God will provide for her. Will this job be the job of her dreams? Maybe, maybe not. Will this job enable her to pay her bills and provide the necessities for her son...I feel certain. God has been with her through all of this, he will continue to be ever present for her. I think that the only stipulations to all of this is that she put her faith and trust in HIM. That's not easy to do when times seem glum and grim. But focusing on what blessings he has already given to her and to her family...and be thankful for the greatest blessing of ALL...our Salvation...all those WANTS will seem less important and all of her NEEDS will be taken care of!
Thank you God!