Best Kind Of Provision

There is nothing you could ever do that would change the way that God feels about you.

- John Burke

In the Seven Blessings series, we continue to learn about God’s faithfulness and the way the Old Testament ultimately points to the New Testament and God’s provision to us throughout history.

Do you wonder if God will really provide for your situation? It may be a financial crisis, desire for a spouse or a marital crisis, teen problems or a health diagnosis. I honestly have to tell you that I’ve never seen God fail. Romans 8:28 says:  

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

It doesn’t mean that everything will turn out exactly the way I would like it to, but that God will work even in the most difficult situations for my good.

Our son and daughter-in-law, Steve and Amanda, have been trying to adopt a little boy for over six years. As they worked with an adoption agency, they were specific. They desired a boy, ages 0-3, and of a different ethnic background than their family. After years of waiting, last October, Amanda spent an evening physically in the closet, praying that God would either take away her desire or bring a little boy into their family. The following day Steve got a phone call from a man in their congregation. If they were still interested in adopting, he gave Steve a phone number to call.

What Steve and Amanda didn’t know was, before that night Amanda was praying, God was already at work. A week earlier, a young woman found out she was pregnant and in a difficult situation. She reached out to the man from Steve’s church. After asking what church he attended, she started scanning through sermons and saw Steve’s message from 3-4 years earlier. In it, he shared their desire to adopt a baby. She knew she was carrying their baby.

Steve called the number he was given, and he and Amanda met the birth mom that Saturday. They continued to develop a relationship throughout her pregnancy, and on January 22, 2021, a baby boy was born! Steve and Amanda were at the hospital (during COVID) and named the baby Zekiah Paul. He went home from the hospital with them!

For the last nine months, we haven’t been able to post any pictures or share this journey. We have prayed, anxiously awaited, and hoped that nothing would change the official moment Zekiah was to become an Ingold!

On October 12, 2021, Ken and I, along with family throughout the country, zoomed in with the court as Steve, Amanda and Jericho took the oath to raise Zekiah as their son. The moment the judge officially announced Zekiah Paul an Ingold, I blubber balled! It wasn’t only because I was ecstatic, but also because I saw a picture of what it means to be adopted as God’s child.

Ephesians 1:5 says:

God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.

No, God didn’t provide “exactly” in the way Steve and Amanda had asked. (Kiah is strawberry blond!) Instead, He, in His goodness, made ALL things to work together for GOOD for both Zekiah and our family.

Friends, if you are waiting to see God’s provision, don’t give up hope! He WILL provide, as you trust, surrender “your” desire for everything to go the way you have planned, and put Him first in your life.

Pastor Pam

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