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Sermon Illustrations: Provision
James Spurgeon was the grandfather of Evangelist Charles Spurgeon. James had a large family and not much money coming in. But he loved the Lord. The Spurgeons had a cow which they needed to provide milk for the children. One day the cow died. Spurgeon's wife was very concerned about that. But Spurgeon said, “God said He would provide, and I believe He could send us fifty cows if He pleased.” That very day, in London, a group Spurgeon didn't know, met to help poor pastors. They'd raised a lot of money and had a list of pastors to send it to. When they got to the end of the list, they still had five pounds left. Someone suggested that they send it to James Spurgeon. But they each added more money. So the day after the cow died, Spurgeon received twenty pounds in the mail. Quite a considerable sum in the early 1800.
When we decided to stop using a credit card for a time, we experienced God's provision. Our daughter's school fees were due on the Thursday (the last day for a discount). We wrote our cheque for $638.20 and took it to the school that afternoon. We were trusting God for two things: one, that they wouldn't actually bank it that same afternoon, and two, that God would provide the money to cover the cheque most of which we didn't have. On Friday, we put all our cheques and notes in our deposit book and counted how much we had - exactly $638. The cheque was banked that day.
A Russian immigrant bought a ticket on a ship to the USA. His mother gave him a loaf of black bread, which he divided up to last the trip. Each day he'd look in and see all the people banqueting. It wasn't till the end of the trip that he discovered the fare included the food.
A pastor needed $1 million for the building they were purchasing. The settlement date was getting closer and closer. He just kept praying. Then the day before settlement date an envelope arrived in the mail. It was a cheque for $1 million. He said, "Lord, why didn't you send this earlier?" The Lord said, "You didn't need it earlier."
Each morning, a woman walked to her front gate and shouted, "Praise the Lord!" And each time the atheist next door would yell back, "There is no Lord!" One day she prayed, "Lord, I'm hungry. Please send me some food." The following morning, she discovered a big bag of groceries on her front porch. "Praise the Lord," she shouted. Suddenly, her neighbour jumped from behind a bush. "I told you there was no Lord," he said. "I bought those groceries for you." "Praise the Lord!" the woman said. "He not only sent me groceries, He made the devil pay for them."