Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20 NKJV
I will never cease to be amazed at my God!!! He leaves me speechless!!! Yes, me…speechless!!!
Isaiah 61 Ministries, Inc. has not even reached its 2nd birthday. In many respects it is still a “toddler” as I’m continuing to learn the ins and outs of operating a nonprofit ministry. Yet at the same time, it is growing in leaps and bounds so that I can hardly keep up! Even in the midst of this last year of dealing with a pandemic, the ministry has grown to a point I am being stretched in ways I never dreamed or imagined, especially this early in its existence. I knew at some point, assuming several years down the road, we would need more space and trusted when the time came, the Lord would once again provide for our needs as He has done so graciously already. Apparently, His timetable and mine are not in sync! And Isaiah 61 Ministries, Inc. is now the proud owner of its own space that is more than double the space it is currently operating in!!!!
Let me give you the backstory.
The upstairs office space in our building was being vacated. I was nosey and asked the tenant if I could take a peek. Conversation led to the discovery that I know the owner of the space. Further conversation with the owner opened the door of possibility. I began to pursue a business mortgage with local banks. The long and short of it, Isaiah 61 is too “young” to have a solid financial history, plus we operate solely on donations from individuals, churches and businesses. It doesn’t fly well in the financial world to explain God has opened up an opportunity to expand our ministry even further into the community but we don’t have the money to make it happen nor do we have steady, reliable income to afford it but we just know God will provide so will you please loan us a sizeable amount of money so we can purchase a larger office space! Amazingly, we did actually manage to secure a loan but the interest was high, the terms were weird and we simply did not have the down payment. Sadly, I informed the owner we would not be able to purchase the office after all, but thank you so much for allowing us the opportunity. I thought it was a done and closed deal, however, I did ask several of my personal prayer warriors, that knew about the situation, to pray that if God wanted Isaiah 61 to have the office space, He would make it happen. A little over 24 hours later, God did just that!
After receiving my message, the owner called and said she and her husband really believed God wanted Isaiah 61 to have the office. She went on to say they had prayed and wanted to help make that happen. They dropped the price and took a SIGNIFICANT loss AND they agreed to personally finance it at a reasonable interest rate and affordable monthly payment!!!!!!!! EXCEEDINGLY AND ABUNDANTLY!!!!!
Oh, and wait, God wasn’t done yet! I was beyond thrilled to have a new space but had no clue what to do from there. I decided we would “just make do” with what we had in the way of office furniture and trusted the Lord would provide the many needs of such a large office space in the course of time and was also trusting Him for a remodel at some point to give it the welcoming feel of our current space. We began to share with a few people the exciting news of what was happening and word got around. Within a week of signing the papers, a couple stepped up and said they would like to purchase new flooring for the entire office and I could pick it!!! I didn’t even have to ask and even argued that was too much. They insisted. THEN, an individual said they would like to purchase the paint, including the painting supplies!!! Again, I resisted, but graciously accepted. THEN, a local church said they wanted to purchase the new counter top for the receptionist area!!! This time, I simply said “THANK YOU!” THEN, another individual wants to purchase curtains for the entire office!!! Which prompted yet another humble “THANK YOU!”
EXCEEDINGLY AND ABUNDANTLY!!!!!!!!
Speechless! SPEECHLESS!!!!
Yes, there are still needs but in His time and in His ways and means, the Lord will continue to provide and all that is left for me to do is to PRAISE HIM!!!
And to pray for the energy and wisdom to keep up with the Lord and this not-quite-yet-2-year-old toddler!!!