Paid in Full
"Pray that the Lord your God will tell
us where we should go and what we should do."
-Jeremiah 42:3
Sometimes being obedient to God can
get pretty challenging. I'd been dating a girl, and the relationship
was getting a little out of control, even though I knew it wasn't
really right for me.
Getting so caught up with this girl made it hard for me to keep God
in first place. At one point, things were really deteriorating, and
I began praying for direction. My answer came in a phone call from
my pastor, Mike Macintosh, from Horizon Church.
Mike called and offered me a gig as drummer with his band that did
Beatles covers. It would be a mini-tour for two weeks. I knew the
bass player, which made the offer even better, so it seemed like an
answer to prayer. I really needed to get away and try to sort out
everything that was going on with my girlfriend.
When I took the gig, I never asked my pastor or the other band members
about money. I thought I was going on the tour as an opportunity to
get closer to God.
One night I was hanging around in the hotel room with my bass player
friend, who was rooming with me on the tour. We started talking about
how people become the Billy Grahams of the world-really great and
amazing teachers. We were saying, "Wow. How does that happen?"
In the middle of the conversation, I distinctly heard God speak to
my heart. He said that those great in ministry were faithful in the
little things. This stayed on my heart while I was trying to fall
asleep. I tossed and turned all night.
Finally, at about four a.m., I fell asleep and had a dream. It was
so real that it stuck with me the whole next day like a really important
thing you know you have to remember or do something about.
In the dream, God was telling me that I was going to go to a Bible
college to learn more about his word and that my pastor was going
to pay for it.
The next morning, I kept thinking, That so was weird. I didn't know
what to make of it, so I didn't say anything about it to my friend.
But it was so heavy on my mind and heart, I just prayed about it through
the day and talked to God about it whenever it came to mind, saying,
"That was pretty random, God, but you know, whatever."
After we got back from the tour, I broke things off with my girlfriend.
It seemed like that was what I really needed to do. It was hard, but
looking back, it freed me up to be available for God's plan for my
life. With nothing else to distract me from God's will, I prayed for
direction and waited patiently for his reply.
One Sunday, not long after we came back from the tour, I was sitting
in church when someone made an announcement about a Bible college
that was offering a nine-week course that was beginning soon. It sounded
like a great opportunity until I heard how much it cost. The tuition
was about four grand-way over my head. Since my parents weren't Christians,
I couldn't really ask them to help. Even though I felt led to go,
I didn't have a clue about how I could pay for it.
Well, I ended up at the course orientation, just to check it out.
I didn't have to make a commitment. It seemed like an amazing course,
and I was more interested than ever. But with the cost of tuition,
I didn't think there was a chance that I'd be able to go. So, again,
I prayed about it. If it were meant to be, then God would make it
happen.
About a week before the course was to start, out of the blue, a check
for $1500 came in the mail. It had been signed by my pastor, Mike,
from Horizon Church. I was like, "What? He must have put too
many zeros on this check!" So I called Mike and said, "Hey,
you paid me too much!"
"We didn't pay you too much," he firmly replied. "You're
a professional drummer, and you deserve to be paid like one. There's
no mistake."
I knew immediately that the check was God's answer to my prayers and
would be the down payment for the course. I thanked Mike, got off
the phone, and headed straight to the bank. I cashed the check, took
the money to the college, and enrolled. Then, on faith, I just trusted
that God would take care of the rest.
My classes ran Monday through Friday, so I was either in class or
studying like crazy in between. Because of the course, I wasn't making
much money, since weekends were the only time I had off. But every
few weeks, I would get a call from Mike, asking me to play a gig.
Each call would come like clockwork, just about the time I needed
to make a tuition payment. It was incredible. Every time I needed
money, I'd get a check in the mail-signed by Mike Macintosh. I knew
that it was meant for my tuition, and I never missed a payment.
By the time the course was over, I had my tuition paid in full with
checks signed by none other than my pastor, Mike Macintosh.
Even though I earned it, Mike provided the work and ultimately the
money I needed to go to Bible College. Pretty wild.
Then, in a weird coincidence, Mike was asked to speak at the graduation.
It was after the ceremony that I finally told him about the dream.
He smiled and shook his head, amused at the way God works. Although
he was grateful to help God fulfill his plan for me, it blew him away
that he never had a clue that he was even doing it.
God has some amazing ways of getting through to us and making sure
that our destinies are fulfilled.
Since then, I pay more attention to my dreams.
Aaron Redfield
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