Finances. Bills. Costs. Outlay. All quite personal things, and all not easy to share with others when you are struggling to make ends meet, but not to our Heavenly Father.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God (Philippians 4:6)
Amen to that!
My wife, Jo, is a Community nurse, and I run a small, local company, Mid Sussex Maintenance Services. When the first lockdown came, Jo and two of our children received shielding letters. The other members of our family also then had to shield, including myself. How were we going to manage with only one wage coming in? God knew!
We pray daily to God, and during this time our prayers were fervent in our trust that God has never let us go without and He wouldn’t let us down now.
Jo had to work from home, coordinating other teams of nurses, assessing patients remotely and organising suitable care plans, spending long days on the phone and on her laptop.
Unhelpfully, I hadn’t been self-employed long enough to receive any Government support. We were blessed before lockdown with a long-term loan, which really helped when I wasn’t able to get building supplies, or payments to me couldn’t be met. God’s provision in evidence again and one we remain truly grateful for.
After two and a half months of juggling home schooling and meal cooking whilst Jo worked in our bedroom, my share of the family finances had diminished to £1 in my current account and £1 in my business account. It was time to get back to work and start all over again rebuilding my company.
I have been so blessed with patient customers who were willing to wait until I could get to them, and with repeat customers coming back or recommending my services, or that of members of my team. To illustrate God’s provision, I have earned the same this tax year year as the one before, despite the enforced time off. I have also managed to be able to support two young lads who both had missed out on work experience through their schools.
We have never gone without food, we have always been able to pay our bills, we have managed to get through Christmas, and in all this, we have also managed to move into our first family home together, even with all the initial extra costs this brings. Within the house purchasing, we have been able to keep one of our properties, blessing us with long term tenants. How good is our God?!
Like many others, sometimes we just don’t know how we can make ends meet each month, but we put our trust in God and simply know that He won’t let us go without. This year has really highlighted God’s love, promises and provision for our family. Thank you, Jesus!