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Before I was a full-time pastor, I was CEO of VanCleave Construction and Development Company. In the years that I ran the company, we constructed around 500 new homes, strip malls, offices, and apartment complexes. I sold the company in 2006 after God steered my heart to full-time work in His Kingdom. We were able to do some great things with the money, like building churches and digging wells in Kenya, funding a Christian movie, and sending many pastors through bible college. My family had to adjust our budget to support the modest income of a pastor. My annual pay was now less than what I previously made in one month.
Almost a year after the sale, my accountant informed me that the closing numbers were wrong. He now believed that I owed the corporation over fifty thousand dollars. I was instantly sick, and my sickness led to anger! Yes, I was ultimately mad at God. I had left financial stability to follow His call on my life, and now my family was going to suffer the impact of a financial gut punch. It was an emotional storm.
Additionally, the annual tuition for six Kenyan pastors was due, and we felt like God was leading us to fund this need. Days of agony turned to weeks before my accountant was able to meet and review the numbers. I was not confident who made a mistake, but I was sweating the idea of forking out fifty-six thousand dollars, especially after giving almost everything away. I was storming, and my stomach was in knots! It was all I thought about each day.
After meeting for hours with my accountant, we concluded that I did not make an accounting error! Additionally, it appeared that the mistake was in my favor. Within the week, a check arrived in the mail for approximately one thousand dollars over the total needed to fund the tuition of the Kenyan pastors. I was elated but also heartbroken at my lack of trust. Proverbs 3:5 reads, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding." But I had pitched a fit like a two-year-old toddler. I failed the test of faith in my storm and did not trust God to work things out for my good (Romans 8:28). The reality is that God allowed me to go through a faith storm to perform a work in my heart. He also used the storm to answer my prayer and provided the tuition for six Kenyan pastors.
Here are 12 truths from my former pastor, Michael Catt. I trust these will bless you and help you maintain faith during the storms:
- Just because you haven't seen a miracle doesn't mean one hasn't happened.
- Adversity is not always chastisement.
- In a crisis, remember you never have all the facts.
- Your talk and walk need to match. Faith is essential.
- Sometimes storms are to protect you, and some storms are to prepare you.
- God does not indulge us but enlarges us.
- Life is not fair, but God is good.
- You are on Jesus' personal prayer list.
- Go to bed; the Lord will be up all night. He doesn't sleep or slumber.
- Whatever is over your head is under His feet.
- The Lord will either calm your storm or allow it to rage while He calms you.
- Resist the temptation to panic when the storms come.
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