The Gifts of God- James 1:17

​This past Sunday, our Pastor preached on James 1:17 that says:
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”  
In his sermon, Bro. Mike challenged us to think back on all of the good gifts our God has given us. While there were many options for me to choose, one particular thing came to mind. Chelsea missed the sermon as she was traveling home from out of town so I filled her in on what she missed and asked her the same question I was asked that morning. Her answer was the exact same event I had thought about in my pew that morning. We spent the next few minutes marveling at how good our God has been to our family.  I wanted to share our story with you.
 
When Chelsea and I were married in 2013 we rented an apartment. It was a great deal in a part of town that we loved and we jumped on it. As it turned out, there was a reason it was so cheap. Over the first two months of our living there, we witnessed a number of different things that convinced us we needed to get out of that place the first chance we were given. After prayer we felt that we were being led to buy a home in Panama City.
So we started looking.
And looking.
And looking.
After looking at every home in our price range in Bay County with little success, one came on the market that we felt was perfect for us. My wife was in love! She wanted that house so badly. Every day when she got off work, she went by the house, which was vacant, and prayed circles around it, pleading with the Lord to give us that house as a part of His plan for us. After a couple months of prayer circles and anxiety, we found out we didn’t get the house.
Chelsea was devastated.
It took about 6 months for her to agree to even look at houses with me. She was so discouraged about finding a house that we continued to live in our apartment past our lease agreement.  
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Fast-forward 2 years.
God has blessed us with a house that is 10,000X’s more perfect for us than that house back then. It is perfect for the family we hope to have. It is perfect for our ministry at SABC. It is a perfect location for people from all over the county to come join us for dinner and Bible Studies we host. God has been good to the Gambles’!
In those days following our missing the first house, we saw no blessings, only vacancies. It was only when we had the whole picture that we knew God was asking us to wait on His timing.   
 
                I tell you our story with the hopes that it will remind you of how the Lord has blessed your family. Your story may sound similar to ours, it may sound completely different. I can assure you however, that the gifts are there to find. If we will only think back upon what the Lord has done.

With that being said, I want to challenge you in the same way our pastor challenged us this past Sunday to think on your life. Once you have done that, praise God for the gifts He has given you, big and small. Share your story with someone as a praise to the Lord. I can promise you that you will be encouraged. I can promise you that because I woke up this morning with great encouragement that God was taking care of me, because He always has.
 
Click the player below to listen to Bro. Mike’s sermon if you missed it!

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