AN ACT OF FAITH REWARDED

David was conscience-stricken after he had counted the fighting men, and he said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I have done. Now, O Lord, I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing” – 2 SAMUEL 24:10

I had been feeling a bit frustrated for quite some time and I couldn't put my finger on the reason why. Then, I was reading 2 Samuel when I came across chapter 24, verse 10. I couldn't understand why King David should feel so guilty about counting his fighting men. It's just a census! What's the big deal? But I couldn’t get this passage out of my head, which just made me feel even more frustrated.

I went away for a while and prayed before coming back and reading it again. When I read it the second time I learned why David felt so guilty. It was his pride that had compelled him to take the census. He was admiring his own strength and power, and putting his faith in his military might, when really it was God's strength and power that had put him where he was.

Last year I asked God to give me a sign as to whether or not I should leave my job at a cinema, as well as my home town of Warrington, and move over to Thurnscoe in South Yorkshire. I received an answer from him the very next day in the form of a letter at work. Head office was now offering all projectionists the option of voluntary redundancy. I took that to mean that God wanted me to go so I applied for the redundancy.

After talking it over with my wife-to-be Anny, and praying on it some more, I decided that if the redundancy did not come by March I would simply hand my notice in and leave, trusting that the Lord would sort me out. However, in February, I was told that in all likelihood I would not get my redundancy until the end of April. So I decided to stay until then, thereby ignoring what I said I would entrust to the Lord. Then, in March I was told that the redundancy would actually be in May, not April. Again I reasoned that I should wait for it, forgetting still that I had already committed to giving my notice in March, regardless of whether or not the redundancy came.

After reading the passage about David in 2 Samuel I came to realise that I had been acting as he had. I was putting my faith not in the strength of God but in the strength of other things, in this case, money. After accepting this fact I decided that I would hand my notice in the next time I was on shift. This was Monday the 14^th of March. When I arrived into work I found that the General Manager was not on shift, so I would have to wait until the following day to hand my letter to him. Instead I resorted to simply telling my line manager of my plan to leave.

The following day I arrived at work and went straight to the General Manager’s office to hand in my letter. When I got there he told me that he had already discussed options with my line manager that would help me to leave and still walk away with my redundancy. If I quit my job I would still need to work a month’s notice. My General Manager said that if I were prepared to stay on for a few days more, three to be precise, then he would see to it that I would get my redundancy on the 15^th of April.

I was absolutely amazed. How awesome is God? The answer is VERY AWESOME!

I had decided to forget about the redundancy money. Instead, I was going to trust in the Lord, in his strength and power. In an act of faith I was rewarded. God saw what I was willing to let go of and decided to give it to me anyway. Praise the Lord!