I have been wanting an iphone 4 for quite a while and have learned recently that the more I “push” for something that I want the more God provides the resistance I need to keep me in check (which sucks sometimes but is necessary for good ol Bri). The journey to my iphone 4 starts with me talking with my Dad about helping me buy an unlocked iphone for our orphanage manager in Nepal. Our manager had mentioned that he would like one and was willing to give me money to buy one for him but I wanted to be a blessing to him. My dad agreed to help me out and I started to search craigslist for a good deal on a nice 3gs. It was like the more I pushed the crappier the deals on craigslist got. I could not find any phones within the price point I was looking for. I finally just prayed (too bad this ends up being the end and not the beginning sometimes) about finding a phone for Emanuelle (our manager). My friend Scott said he and his brother had 2 3GS phones that I could have for a really cheap price (within my budget) and they are on there way here as I type this blog. For a point of reference, when the Playstation 2 came out many moons ago my friend Scott bought me one and surprised me one Christmas as well as giving me an old skool XBox back in the day and bought me my first Sony PSP. Needless to say, he has been an amazing blessing to me in a way that may seem stupid to some people because these are “things” but to a pastor not making great money through the years, it was a great thing to have these blessings in my life and Scott knows that I appreciated each of them including the iphones this week.
During this time, I had been saving money to put towards an iphone 4 eventually but saw the ridiculous prices on craigslist. During all of this I had a conversation with my friend Eliphaz and I was teasing him about always having what he wanted and he told me something that really changed my perspective on God’s blessing and favor in my life. He said that God had always provided for him and that he was not nervous about God supplying all his needs (including a desire to have cool electronics) 🙂 I know that seems like such a simple principle, but it was something I needed to hear at the perfect time. I took the same attitude with my iphone 4. An amazing phone, but I wanted it to be God’s timing and not be a mental distraction like “things” can be so often in our lives. Technology is my challenge to keep in check in my life but we each have things that we maybe try and “keep from God and manage for him” which is wrong. When we come to the place of surrendering our desires to God we actually have more provision than we know what to do with. So back to my iphone story. I found a guy on craigslist who would trade me my 3gs (thanks again Christy) for an iphone 4 and some additional money that I had saved. We met today and it was awesome. We ended up sitting for about 45 minutes and I got to talk to him about God, pray over his phone business and invite him to church. He not only gave me a better phone with 8 months left on a warranty but also a case for the phone. Of the 2 phones my friend Scott is sending me (thanks again Phillip and Scott) one is going to be a blessing to our manager in Nepal and the other will be hopefully sold to help Yoli buy her iphone at the end of the year. 🙂 The motivation for all these stories in this blog is about God’s provision and not the provision I was seeking in my life. In all of this, we were able to have money to pay for new blinds downstairs in our house, a phone for our manager in Nepal, extra money to save (staying within the budget we set for all these things) and I got an iphone 4 with a case and 8 months left on a warranty.
All I have to say is WOW and thank God for his provision and blessing in my life. Again, I know this is a story about “things” but I can see the hand of God so clearly through all of this situation. So remember to always let God have control of ALL areas of your life including desires that YOU think God doesn’t really care about. Things” in life are not wrong when those desires are surrendered to God so he can give the multiplied provision.
Holy Crap 