I met Ashley at church after our move to Jesup, GA a little over 2 years ago. She has a kind, sweet spirit and is tuned into the heart of Jesus. This past year, before Covid, we participated in a Bible Study group together at church. Each week we would write our name and prayer requests on an index card and put it in a basket. At the end of class, we would take home a card. On one of those weeks I drew Ashley’s name. Right there on her card was the very prayer request that she is sharing with us today.
Read below how God answered this prayer.
Psalm 27:13-14 (NKJV) “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!“
Pray, Wait, Trust!
How much time in our lives do we spend waiting? How do we go about that time of waiting? Are we using this time for good or just begrudgingly waiting for the moments to pass by? Just a few questions that I have been asking myself lately and perhaps, maybe you have too.
Psalm 27:13-14 has been revealed to me several times this past year—including during a time of fasting from last December through January and most recently in a Bible study in June. My family has been going through a new season the past couple of years with my husband and his health. This season has required me to hold onto to the Lord like never before. Due to some health issues he was born with, it became increasingly hard for my husband to remain in the workforce. This ultimately led to him leaving his job this past fall to begin the process of retirement. If you have been through this process, then you know how scary the unknown can be. I would be lying if I didn’t include the fact that I felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. By weight, I mean that I felt personally responsible for how the bills were going to get paid from my income. I worried about my husband, his health, how he was feeling through this (as a man, I can’t even imagine all of the thoughts he had), and how our lives were going to be from here on out. I can say God really started using scripture to speak with me about my spiritual heart condition. I literally had almost lost heart, until God truly revealed His goodness to me.
God began by speaking his word over me. One verse that came to me was Psalm 56:3 (KJV). It says, “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee”. This is one of the first scriptures I memorized as a child and it has been such a comfort to me over the years. Another one was Philippians 4:6 (ESV), “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” He was telling me, “Hey child, don’t be anxious, come to me with a grateful heart and talk with me.”
The Lord began to give me a peace like I have never felt. He drew me in and started putting the yearning in my heart to get up earlier to have some special time with Him. Through His goodness, he began opening my eyes to all that He has done for my family in our situation and little by little, I found myself becoming stronger—not on my own power but through the strength of the Lord. These small precious moments of time spent with the Lord brought about something very powerful from Him that I would not have been able to fully understand or handle if He had not been working on my heart. I believe he began this process to prepare me for Him to speak to our situation directly in a dream about his provision for our family.
Now, I mostly do not remember dreams that I have, unless there is a strong message to them. Like most working mothers, I am so worn out by the end of the day, I just crash. Well, imagine to my surprise the morning of February 20th of this year, when the Lord placed a message in my dream that was so vivid, I woke up saying the words He spoke to me out loud. The words were “He will be paid in April; He will be paid in April.” These words were spoken in a male sounding voice over and over again. Keep in mind, that my husband left his job in September and normally at his place of employment, it takes a year to be approved for retirement. Well, I told my husband about the dream, about the fact that God had something major planned for him in April, and the overwhelming peace that I felt about the situation. We continued to wait during the rest of February and throughout all of March: this time of waiting was one of hope and courage. I felt like God used what could have been a time of stress and worry to draw my family and me closer to Him than we have ever been before. I give Him the glory for his whirlwind transformation in our lives!
Speaking of whirlwinds, imagine waking up to a tornado warning the morning after Easter and having to run to a closet for protection and as soon as the tornado passes over, looking at your phone only to discover one of your biggest prayers has been answered?? (Talk about God’s unique timing!) Let me just say that God held true to his word and my husband started receiving part of his retirement in April.
Please continue to pray with us that the Lord will bring this final part of this process to completion soon for our family. We know he has a plan and that it is in His timing, not ours!
I hope our story of how God has provided and continues providing his goodness and strength will encourage you in your walk with the Lord.
PRAY, WAIT, TRUST! Three of the most important words ever!
Ashley Greene
Thank you for sharing your story of HIS mighty provision.