Each week VOM department directors meet to discuss the ongoing business of the ministry and update each other on various projects and priorities. Each meeting begins with a short devotional led by one of the directors. Last week that director was Jill from VOM's financial services area. She shared how God used a VOM donor and a well-timed phone call to answer her prayer and encourage her heart. Here is her devotional:
Last Wednesday, as I sat in the darkness of the early morning, I started my God time listing all the stress in my life: “God, I am following the path You set before me and You really think I can have July’s books closed AND the reports ready for the audit committee AND You want me to greet visitors at VOM’s chapel service, have the audit committee meeting AND do the devotional for the directors’ meeting all in the next week? REALLY?!?!”
Then, I moved on to personal things: “You want me to send my youngest daughter to Kansas City with a smile on my face, knowing she knows no one? What if.....?”
I will stop with that list because it became a very long and whiney list with too many I’s and me's.
God patiently listened and reminded me: "Do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:34).
And Philippians 4:6-7: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Ok, God, I get it...You’ve got it.
So, I thought I had done just what He said and moved on with my day. My morning was very busy and I had a meeting at 10 am. The meeting went well and I was so thankful and feeling the peace God had placed in my heart. After returning from my meeting, I looked at my phone...and there was a message.
I listened to the message and I immediately went back to that morning place of fretting and questioning. “Really God? You want me to talk to a donor? I have only talked to a handfull of donors since I began working here! She wants to know what are the fees that VOM has to pay if she pays by a credit card and what are the fees if she pays by a check. I’ve never had to answer one of those questions. I don't even know the answer! Why does it even matter? It costs VOM both ways. Where do I even begin? I don't have time for this! What if I say the wrong thing?”
Again God patiently reminded me that He was with me: Luke 12:25 “And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span?”
Ok God, here we go....
I picked up the phone and called Stacey. After I identified myself to Stacey, she thanked me for returning her call and proceeded to tell me what she wanted. She hardly took a breath between her words. She told me she was sitting at her computer, about to donate to VOM by credit card. She wanted to use her credit card because it would add airline miles to her account. All of a sudden she realized that she was sitting before God and was about to use the card for her own gain. She realized that she had to know which method of payment was best for VOM. She wanted to use her money for God in the best way possible.
We talked about the fees charged for each method and she determined what she would do. Then, still hardly breathing between words, she started thanking me for all that VOM is doing for Christians in Iraq.
Then, she started crying and thanked me again for calling her back as it was important that she not use her donation to benefit herself but to glorify God. She said her family is so thankful for VOM’s ministry and that they pray for us.
We ended our conversation by each of us telling the other what a blessing it was to talk today. We both believed God placed us on each other's path on that day at that time.
After I hung up the phone, I sat in my chair in awe of our God. How, just that morning, I had needed Him for so many reasons and He was there each step of the way. Just that morning, I did not know how I was going to give a devotional at directors’ meeting. He so-politely conked me on the head showing me that I was supposed to share Stacey's story.
VOM donors believe in our ministry. Just like Stacey, many of them agonize over how to use their dollars in the best possible way to further God's kingdom. May we always do the same as we spend the dollars entrusted to us!
Thanks be to God for leading His people on the path that intersects ours!
You can learn about VOM's stewardship and financial accountability here.
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