(This amazing true story comes from my new book, The Sure Cure for Worry (Chosen Books, 2013, pages 32-35)
Sometimes it’s hard to believe that God is in control
when your world is falling apart. You must continue to obey God, even when what
He tells you to do doesn’t make sense. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and
He will direct your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Max Wilkins is a pastor in Gainesville, Florida. Shortly
after he surrendered to go into full-time ministry, Max applied at Candler
School of Theology for seminary training. He had no money to attend graduate
school but took the first step of faith by applying.
Max had two summer employment opportunities before fall
classes would begin. The most promising was an assistant pastor position in a
local church, which would completely pay for his first semester at the
seminary. The other job was working at a church camp for only a penny per hour. The correct decision appeared to be obvious. The church staff job had
to be the right choice. But after spending time in prayer, Max felt God pulling
at his heart to work at the camp.
His parents tried to talk him out of it. “Son, you need
to pray again. Obviously you didn’t hear that from God.” But Max could not deny
that the Lord was leading him in a direction that defied logic. It would
be financially impossible for him to pay for seminary with the money he would
be making at camp.
Max faithfully fulfilled his camp duties and by the end
of summer he had earned five dollars. Classes would be starting in two weeks. If
he had listened to his parents and taken the other job, he would have had the
money to pay for his first semester at school. But now that option was gone.
How could the Lord let him make a huge mistake like that?
Max stormed down to the camp lake to have it out with God. Standing by the
lake, he cried out, “Lord, you are
the one who called me to seminary and to work at this camp. I am trying to be
obedient to you, but I have no idea what to do now. This is your problem, God!”
At that moment he sensed the presence of someone nearby.
He turned and noticed an elderly woman sitting on the lakeside bench. “Hello,”
Max said. “Have we met before?”
“No, my name is Emily Ann. Why don’t you tell me what’s
bothering you.”
Max sat next to her and shared about his desire to attend
seminary and turning down the assistant pastor job to work at the camp for
a penny per hour.
“You want to go to Candler School of Theology?” she
asked. “My husband and I happen to have some friends who are endowing a
scholarship at that seminary. Please give me your contact information and I
will tell them about you.”
Max wondered if she was making up the answer to his
problem, or if she might be a little bit senile. After all, what are the
odds that a person with
connections to a scholarship to the very seminary he had applied for would come to that exact spot on
the lakeshore at the precise time he was there praying? Max scribbled his
address on a piece of paper and handed it to her.
When summer camp ended, Max returned home and found a
stack of mail lying on his desk. He came across an envelope from the Sherman
Foundation. Tearing it open, he read:
Dear Max, Our dear
friend Emily Ann spoke very highly of you and your calling to ministry. We
trust her implicitly. Based on her recommendation, we are pleased to award you
an all-expense paid scholarship to Candler School of Theology at Emory
University. Sincerely, Frank and Helen Sherman, The Sherman Scholarship
Foundation
What looked like an
incredibly stupid decision to work at the camp for a penny an hour turned out
to be the correct decision! Because Max trusted in the Lord with all his heart
and did not lean to his own understanding, God led him on the right path—and provided
what he needed.
The scholarship not only paid for his entire three
years in seminary, but also gave him a monthly stipend for living
expenses! When you walk in obedience to God, He has ways of providing for
you that are beyond your understanding. Are you trusting the Lord with all your
heart and obeying what He is telling you to do? If you will, God will take care
of everything else. www.kentcrockett.blogspot.com
*******************************
Are
you worried about an economic collapse or that you won't find the right person to marry? Read The
Sure Cure for Worry
Jesus
said that when some people pray, they wrongly assume “that they will be heard
for their many words” (Matt. 6:7). Praying doesn’t get better because it’s
longer, just like sermons don’t get better because they’re longer. I’ve never
heard anyone say, “That sermon was so good because it was SO long!” And I don’t
think God says, “That prayer is so good because it’s so long! That person just
talks and talks and talks and never expects Me to say anything back!” 
