$254.00

Dear Friends:

I'm not posting this here so everyone can tell me what a wonderful person I am. I'm posting it for one specific reason - that if you ever doubted you could hear from the Lord, and be used by Him, that the doubt would be removed.

Here we go.

Many folks in our community know Mary. Mary, with her myriad health problems, massive financial burdens, and a spirit like no one I've ever met. Joyful Mary, whose mouth is constantly filled with praise to our Lord and thanksgiving for the blessings He has bestowed on her. Dear Mary, who is always more concerned about praying for the needs of others than for her own diabetes, arthritis, and congestive heart failure.

It was a stunning Saturday morning, the first day of September 2007. I had wandered next door to visit our neighbors, Melvin and Lydia, and they showed me some new vines they were cultivating along their back fence. I excused myself, trotted over to our yard, and brought back a large trellis that Mary's husband had made for us several months prior. It's really quite a piece of work, but we just didn't have a good spot for it. So I presented it to Melvin and Lydia, who were delighted to have it. Melvin insisted on giving me $14 for it, which was all the cash he had on him, and I finally told him I'd accept it but would pass it on to Mary.

A few hours later I was finishing a day's work in the yard. It was a truly delightful bit of weather - in the 50s all morning, 80s that afternoon, and not a cloud in the sky all day long. One of those brilliant, clean, crisp days where the very air seems alive. I was soaked in sweat and filthy from head to toe. I was kneeling in a planter bed, admiring my handiwork, and out of nowhere came a voice, as pure and sweet as the breeze I'd been enjoying all day long.

"Mary needs some money."

I stood up and looked around. No one. Not a person to be seen. Nothing but the wind and the brilliant, clear sunlight. And I knew instantly Who it was.

"How much, Lord?", I asked.

No answer. I pushed my wheelbarrow into the shed and went in the house to wash up. I was considering a quick shower; I was covered in grime and wearing yard clothes that any homeless man would reject. Hmm, how about tomorrow? Would Monday be okay? I pondered the beckoning shower with its big round Amazon Rain Forest showerhead - and a great weight came upon me, and the voice came again.

"$254. NOW."

$254? What's $254? What does that mean?! Hardly a number I would pick out of the blue! I grabbed Marvin's $14 off the dining table and in less than 30 seconds I was out the door, RUNNING, mind you - it wasn't as if I had received a suggestion.

I raced to the bank, got $240 out of the ATM, and sped over to Mary's house, $254 clenched in my fist. No one home. What to do? I left a note on the door for her to call me.

Not long after I got home, she called. "Mary," I blurted, "God said you need $254, and I've got it here." She hollered something I couldn't make out and said she would be right over.

As she stepped into our house, everpresent Bible in hand, laughing and crying, she immediately took a torn Post-It note from inside her Bible. It read, "My God supplies all my needs!! HALLELUJAH" . She said, "I've been praying and praying over this list, and my God never fails me! He ALWAYS comes through!" I turned over the note, and what I saw made my heart stop - a list of financial needs with that day's date highlighted at the top.

The amount she had to have that very day: $254.

The amount she had been praying for over and over. Not a penny more, not a penny less. $254.

We talked for quite a while, and cried a bit together, and I told her I had to keep that note. It's now in my Bible. And off she went, once again singing the praises of a Lord who constantly, daily, without fail, supplies her needs.

I'm sharing this story here not for personal glory, but to the glory of God. I need no hail-fellows or well-dones - I got my blessing that day from the highest Authority. I was mightily humbled and blessed and joyful to have been used of Him. Mary prayed, and for His own reasons, God chose me to supply her need.

Know that He answers prayers, that He takes care of our needs, and that He uses each of us to be a blessing to others.