When your gas tank is on “E” and your bank account reads “$0.00”

Last week I mentioned that I am in a new position at AIM and that part of my job is to serve as the " In House representative"  for the Kingdom Dreams Tour.  This means that I work in the office to help with logistics, setting up accomodations, and supporting the traveling team.  Well, this  week I am very excited to be leaving the "House," meaning AIM headquarters, to actually go be with the team!   I will be flying to Florida tomorrow to join the team and offer encouragement, and minister alongside them.   I could not be more excited!  We will be traveling throughout different parts of Florida this week, speaking with college groups, youth groups, families, and indivuals.  Our goal: to awaken the Church to the realization that God has a dream for their life!!!  We will hear people's stories of what their dream is and help coach individuals to help them discover their dream.  It's going to be a very full, and very busy week.  I can't wait.  

Something pretty interesting to know about the Tour: the Kingdom Dreams Tour team lives by the principles based out of Luke 10.  They travel light, bringing nothing with them.   They stay with other believers along the way, bless the house in which they stay.  They pray for the healing of the sick.  They speak peace to whomever they meet.  They tell others 'The kingdom of God is near you."  To live out the principles of Luke 10 is to live out faith.

And, needless to say, it's always an adventure.  They are always depending on God.  And God is always showing up.  

So, when I go, I too will be living out Luke 10, and I could not be more excited!  

So that's the plan for the future and this is where I too am asking the Lord to provide.  My plan for tomorrow is to fly from Atlanta to Ft. Lauderdale.  From there, I need to meet up with the team, 4 hours away.  I needed to raise support to do this, so I started with nothing…and raised the money for the flight and the rental car.  (I got a great deal when I booked them together, only $250 for flight and rental!)  From there, I need to get to Brandon, FL…which is 4 hours away from Ft. Lauderdale.  I have no $$$ for gas, but the team has assured me that if I can get to Brandon, they have been blessed with a donation, and they can help me with gas.  If I am given a rental car that has a full tank of gas, than I should have no problem.  However, if I don't…well…that's where it get's tricky  (by tricky, I mean…exciting?!?)  .  That's where Luke 10 starts to come into play.  I will have to have the Lord show up, or I am stuck in Ft. Lauderdale.  

I told the Tour leader, "Well, I really want to be able to get to the speaking engagement that night, so I could just get gas, and put it on my credit card.  Then you could just pay me back."

The team leader said,  "No, no, no.  We don't do credit cards.  Remember, we are doing Luke 10."

Yes.  I should have known.  "I have got so far to go before I get this whole Luke 10 thing down," I kept thinking.

So, if I get there and my rental car has a full tank of gas, I will know that the Lord HAS provided.  And if I get there and the gas tank is low…well, I guess that means the adventure will start immediately.  Full Luke 10 immersion.  And I will know that the Lord WILL provide.  

I have a feeling this is going to be good.
Would love your prayers for this journey.

Also, I want to share another quick story…and this SHOULD give me full confidence that this is not going to be an issue…

3 weeks ago I was being quiet before the Lord, and I felt like the Lord was telling me to stop using my credit card.  Now, I hate using my credit card to begin with.  However,  my support had been low and I was using it to buy groceries and put gas in my car because I didn't have enough money to swing things on my own.  And here I was praying and the Lord said, "Stop using your credit card."  

Being a bit rebellious, I said, "But Lord, what about my gas for my car?  How will I get to and from work?  I have an 1/8 of a tank and I NEED to get gas. "

It was as if the Lord chuckled when he said,  "I told you to stop using your credit cards.  Do you trust me to provide or would you rather continue in your own ways so that you can be in control?  That's what you are doing, ya know?  You are choosing to be dependent on yourself (or in control) instead of dependent on me.  If you choose to pull into the gas station tonight and put gas in your car with a credit card, you are choosing control over me."

Oh wow.  Ouch God.

So, I was scared out of my mind.  Afraid that I would at some point be stranded on the side of the road.  But, I also decided, that if I am going to be stranded on the side of the road, than maybe God has a plan for that too.  So, I have given up on using my credit card to fill up my gas tank for the last three weeks.  And let me tell you, it has not been easy.  

And, does this mean that my gas light has come on 4 different times in the last 3 weeks and that I didn't know what was going to happen?  

Yep.

But has God shown up for me every time?

Yep.

One day, while driving to visit my friend who lives about 15 minutes away,  my gas light came on.  My thought, was "well, 'E' actually means you have about one gallon left anyway.  That gives me about 25 miles."  So, I continued to my friends house, somewhat nervous about making it (or that I would make it, but not have money to return home.)  However,   when I went to visit that friend, she said, "A friend of mine just blessed me today by sending me a $100!  Can I treat you to dinner?"  I was pumped.  I said yes.  So, we got ready to go, and she said, "Well, who would like to drive?"  I felt bad, she was paying for my dinner and I wanted to offer to drive.  But I had to be honest,  "Well, I would offer to drive, but my gas light just turned to "E" on the way here."  Her response, "Oh, ok. I will drive.  And here's $20.00 for gas.  I was blessed today, so let me bless you."  

Did God just do that?  Yep.

3 or 4 days later, the old gas light came on again.  And I wasn't sure what I was going to do.  And that SAME day, someone asked me if I would be willing to cut their hair.  I said yes.  She asked me, "How much should I pay you?"  

"Well, I said, how does a half tank of gas sound to you?"  She agreed.

Did God just do that?  Yep.  He's faithful.

THEN 3 days later, I pulled into the parking lot of AIM, and my gas tank wasn't quite on "E," but it was teetering right above.  At this point, I thought: God, how are you going to do this this time?

When I got out of work a little after 5 I walked to my car, opened my car door and say a bill that was near the floor.  I thought, "oh, did I drop a dollar?  I didn't think I had a dollar."  I picked it up and was shocked to see it was a 20 dollar bill!!!  My car door was locked but someone squeezed the bill past the seal around my car door, so it would be inside.  

Did God just do that?  Yep.  

That night  that I found the $20.00, a friend of mine and I were going to have dinner together.  We were just going to make something for dinner, keeping things low budget.   But I was feeling pretty excited because I had just found a 20 dollar bill.  So, I decided that I would use part of it for gas, and I would use part of it to go out for dinner.  

However, the next day, I felt terribly guilty.  I knew that that money was for gas, and so I was began beating myself up about not using it all for gas.  I thought to myself, the Lord provided this money, and now I have just stewarded it poorly.  Later that afternoon, two friends of mine from out of town came to visit, and I shared with them how upset I was about this situation.  They just sort of looked at each other and then laughed, as if I was being ignorant, and then said,  "…but Julie, God is a God of grace!  He understands that we screw up sometimes."  I appreciated their kind words, but I thought, really, they are just trying to make me feel better.  I rebutted with, "Yes, but He is the God of wise stewardship."  The conversation continued, and we agreed that God was both the God of Grace and the God of Wise Stewarship.  But I still felt like I was a bad steward.  

And then, they looked up and chuckled.  I asked them why they were laughing.  They said, "Well this whole time you have been beating yourself up, and you are trying to figure out what to do…and you didn't know this, but The Lord told us to give you this money, even before we left home to visit you.  They slid $40.00 across the table.   "So, Julie…I think God is a god of Grace."

I was blown away.  I filled up my gas tank… with the ENTIRE $40.00…this time, not splitting if for other things.  And as I filled up my tank, I pondered just how gracious God really is.

Anyway,  tomorrow I am headed to Florida,  and I am super excited.   And, I am not sure how I am going to have gas money to get from Ft. Lauderdale to Brandon…but I am pretty confident that God has it figured out.  At this point, I should simply just be wondering, How WILL he do it.

I don't know, but I know it's going to be good.  

Now, do I believe that I will miracalouly just be given the money?  No, I don't believe that.  But I do believe that He will provide.  If I would get stuck on the side of the road, than maybe someone will stop and He will PROVIDE a ministry opportunity.  Who knows.  But I believe He will provide, and I believe, it's going to be good.  

Would love your prayers for the journey!