199,667 Miles, God Will Provide

OK, I was supposed to sit down and write out my Sunday review of our service and our journey into Nehemiah 1; however, I need to share this quick testimony. GOD'S WORD IS TRUE, HE WILL PROVIDE.

Deuteronomy 8:4 says, "Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years" ESV. I always knew this was a powerful verse but never fully understood it because some things you have to live rather than read or study.

I have a 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix and because of school travel from Oklahoma City to Shawnee or work travel from Oklahoma City to Arlington, Texas or Pastoral Travel from South Bend, Indiana to Oklahoma City and other areas, my car has 199,667 miles. Not a Toyota or a Honda, but this is a PONTIAC with 199,667 miles, same engine, same transmission. Shout#1, God doesn't always have to give you something new, He can make things that should break last. I built GM products and I am proud to say, We built vehicles good enough to make you want to purchase it again, not last forever. Chris Rock says, "there ain't no money in the cure, the money is in the come-back".

Why don't you just buy a new car is what everyone says, not understanding that when you are in the wilderness, sometimes you can't do what you would like to do. You have to learn to live in the wilderness. I am a single parent raising three girls on one income, no outside money, and that income was GREATLY reduced walking away from General Motors into full-time ministry. Shout #2, Everything I lost financially, God has given back to me in ways I didn't even know was possible, you never lose following the Lord completely.

My car should have been dead a long time ago but the Lord has kept making a way. Last Friday, my car didn't feel right. No noise, no grinding, no stopping, but it didn't feel right. I told my chairman, I need to take the car in because something is wrong. I found out that my left front wheel hub was gone, shot, finished. My car was not safe to drive, in fact looking at the hub, the mechanic didn't understand how the wheel had not disengaged and fallen off. Shout #3, As close as death was to me and the girls, he wasn't as close to us as God was, "What shall separate me from the love of God...."

"Neither did thy foot swell, these forty years." J. Vernon McGee says A missionary doctor explained to him that out in the Orient where he served, the people had a sameness of diet. They did not get all the vitamins they needed; so they would show the manifestations of beriberi. One of the symptoms is a swelling of the feet. Israel got all their vitamins; they got all the nourishment that they needed. What did these folk eat for forty years? Manna! God-food, God-baked, God-cooked, God's miracle. It provided everything they needed for the nourishment of their bodies.

Spiritual manna is the Word of God. It is a wonderful food. It will supply all your needs. It can bring comfort to your heart, it can save your soul, it can dry your tears, it can help you hold on when you feel like giving up. You see, friend, you won't get any swelling of the feet if you will read the Word of God. In other words, the Bible will meet your individual needs, whatever they may be. This is manna.

Shout #4, GOD ALWAYS PROVIDES. The manna lasted as long as they were in the wilderness, it stopped when they arrived in their promised land which would be their new source of supply. Either way, God always provides. Right now, I am in the manna stage on my way to my promise land, but everything I need is in the manna, so much so that my clothes don't wear out and my feet don't swell and a Pontiac with 199,667 miles is still running.

Owens