My God Will Provide

Before joining Lifepath and taking over the Economy Store, I had no idea how great the need was in our community. Initially, I just thought the Economy Store was a place where people could buy donated items at a very low cost. And that is certainly true. But I quickly learned that we are so much more than that. I discovered that we are the “go to place” in our community for people of all types who are in desperate need of assistance. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we are able to assist thousands of people each year with basic necessities, such as clothing, shoes, housewares, bedding, and furniture. I have now come to the realization that there would be a huge void in this community if the Economy Store did not exist.

At times, I am overwhelmed by the number of requests I receive for assistance on a daily basis. As manager, it is my job to decide if these requests are legitimate and if we have an adequate inventory of product to honor the request. By far, this is the most difficult part of my job. I feel a tremendous responsibility to our donors, and to God, to be good stewards of what He has given us. But I have learned over the past 9 months that God will always provide just what we need to meet the needs of our community. And this has given me a renewed sense of commitment to help all the people that He sends through our doors, for I know that my God will always provide (Philippians 4:19).

This past week, God decided that I needed to be reminded of this great truth. In recent weeks, I have been flooded with requests for bedding and furniture from the general public and various social service agencies in the community. Many of these people are starting life all over again. Many are women with children who are leaving a homeless shelter. They are in the process of getting a job and getting an apartment and have absolutely nothing. No sofa, no kitchen table, no bed, no nothing. In order to give these people hope at this crucial time in their lives, I try to help as many as possible. I want them to see that Lifepath exists to be the hands and feet of God. That He is the One who is at work through us to provide for their needs and give them hope for a better life. And because I wound up helping just about everyone who came through our doors, I found myself with virtually no furniture on our showroom floor by Monday of this week.

I must admit that a little bit of panic set in. I started to question if I had made a mistake by helping so many people. I started to doubt myself and wonder if all those people really needed assistance. I expressed my concern to one of the program men who works in the furniture department and he shared the same concern. We were both a little worried that our inventory had been depleted and that we were not receiving many furniture donations of late. And that’s when God reminded me that He is Jehovah Jireh (the Lord our Provider).

It started Tuesday afternoon when I was called from my office to the loading dock. When I arrived, there was a large pickup truck with a huge flatbed trailer attached to it in the alley. When I looked in the trailer, I saw what looked to be a house full of furniture. Multiple dining room tables, bed room dressers, living room chairs, end tables, etc. I asked one of my staff members to send down that same program man so he could assist me with unloading the trailer. When he arrived and looked inside, we both looked at each other and began laughing. And we were a little embarrassed to say the least that we had ever doubted that God would provide. The next day, God continued to pour out His blessing when our trucks brought in several more donations of furniture that was in excellent condition. And I am happy to report that as of today our furniture showroom is now fully stocked once again. And I am reminded of that great promise recorded in Malachi 3:10, where God says, “Test me in this and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have enough room for it.”

So today, my team will have the happy task of finding room for all the furniture donations that have poured into our store over the last few days. And I will stand amazed at the God we serve and eagerly await to see what new ways He will reveal Himself to me in the coming days.