Giving God Room To Work

Our money issues seem to be on my mind all the time. All the time. But I have been thinking about a few things lately that have really started to change my way of thinking. First of all, our pastor mentioned in a sermon last week that we cannot praise God by simply looking at our current circumstances. We have to look at all He has done for us, for others, and also look simply at who He is. All of this time I have been trying to praise God for the small thinks he is doing for us in this time of financial hardship. Thanking him for $2o here, for a small job there. But still the needs have seemed so much bigger than what God was doing. The stack of bills, the ones waiting to be paid, was so much larger than the stack of bills, the dollar kind, to use to pay them. It has been so hard to focus on God. But as Steve preached about praising God outside of our circumstances, I have been able to focus on so much more than our bills and needs. God is a good God! And He has done so very much for me and for those around me! How in the world can I doubt Him or His timing?!
The other thing that has been on my mind was a quote that a friend posted on her facebook status. She posted something like, "If money is your only problem, you have no problem at all, because God has all the resources in the world." At first, I was so consumed by my problem of money, or lack of it, that I just couldn't accept this post. But then I got to thinking about all of the resources that God has..... everything and everyone. A paycheck is not the only resource God can use to provide for his people. Just looking at the Bible, I see a vast number of resources God has used to bless and provide. All of this time, I have been feeling a little ashamed of receiving gifts from others to pay our bills and even more ashamed for being on "public assistance" (foodstamps and medical card). But God showed me through this friend's quote, that those resources are no less his than a paycheck or any other resource.
I continue to pray that I become a generous and merciful stewart. I also continue to pray that God teach me whatever he needs to teach me through this time. And I continue to pray that God reveal to us the reason for his withholding a job at this time. In the mean time, I will continue to trust and obey Him. And I will follow his leading. And I repent for not obeying God in the first place when I felt led to cancel our vacation in August. I should have canceled it immediatly and without question. Instead, I bucked, whined, complained, and felt sorry for myself. Then to make matters worse, I canceled the vacation but hung onto the cabin, changing the reservation but not canceling it. Well, God told me in a dream the other day to cancel the cabin, so I did. And you know what? It feels really good to obey and to give God room to work.