May 9, 2013
Let This Story Of God’s Provision Strengthen Your Faith
A Season Of Trials
My grandfather left orange growing to preach the Gospel through the radio. But this brought him into a season of trials.
Here’s how he described this to his listeners —
We have come to know God in a new way because of the trials of these past three years. We have known what it is to have much sickness; financial losses; to have those turn against us and seek to hurt us who we thought were true friends; to have our only child brought down to death’s door on two occasions; and to have gone before the microphone, after sleepless nights, so burdened and cast down I did not know whether I could preach.
But then he concludes —
I want to tell you that after going through all this and much more, Mrs. Fuller and I know that God is able — that His promises are true.
Two months later he faced another trial, and again saw God’s faithfulness.
An Open Door
My grandfather had trouble finding radio stations that would carry his preaching, because many had policies against religious broadcasting.
But God opened the door for him to take the Sunday evening slot on station KNX, “The Voice Of Hollywood.” This was exciting because KNX planned on increasing its broadcast to cover the entire west coast, Alaska, and Hawaii.
But this Sunday time slot was expensive. Some of my grandfather’s friends urged him not to move ahead. But he believed this was God’s calling, so he made the commitment.
Cancel The Station?
But one Thursday it looked like he had made a mistake. The next day he owed KNX Radio five hundred dollars, or he would need to cancel Sunday’s broadcast. But he only had three hundred fifty dollars.
So he sat there, eyeing the phone, wondering if he should make the call to cancel. Finally, with great regret, he decided to make the call.
But just as he reached for the phone, it rang. A dentist friend, who had come to faith through my grandfather’s broadcast, was calling.
His first words were — Charlie, do you need any money?
My grandfather was shocked, and answered — Yes, I do.
The dentist responded — Well, then, come over and see me.
What God Had Done
So my grandfather drove to the dentist’s home. When he got there, the dentist asked him how much money he needed.
My grandfather answered — One hundred fifty dollars.
The dentist turned to his wife, with a stunned look on his face. Then he pulled from his pocket a check he had already made out to my grandfather for exactly one hundred fifty dollars.
And the dentist explained what had happened. He said his wife had woken him up the previous the night and said — We must give Charles Fuller one hundred fifty dollars tomorrow.
But the dentist explained to his wife that they only had twenty-five dollars in the bank. But she insisted — I don’t care; we’ve got to do it.
He didn’t know what to say. So he suggested they talk about it the next day, and they went back to sleep.
The next morning he went to his dental office as usual. But while he was there, a patient unexpectedly arrived, and said he had come to pay his overdue dental bill — which was for eight hundred dollars.
When the bill was paid, the dentist immediately wrote a check for one hundred fifty dollars to my grandfather. Then he drove home to tell his wife what had happened. And he called my grandfather to have him come over — without knowing anything of how close my grandfather was to cancelling his time slot on the KNX radio station.
They were all stunned and strengthened by God’s merciful, detailed, faithfulness.
So pray. And trust Him. He is faithful.
(From Daniel Fuller’s Give the Winds a Mighty Voice: The Story Of Charles E. Fuller, pp.103-105)
Thoughts? Feedback?
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Hi Steve,
Brother, thank you so much for this story…I was very encouraged, and reminded of how faithful God has been to us over the years.
David
You are so welcome, David. It’s always a joy to hear from you. Much love to you and your family.
Steve
Awesome, thanks for sharing this story Steve. I appreciate your hard work with this blog.
I am looking forward to being first in line when you publish your new book.
Your old friend,
Bill
Thanks, brother!
Hi Steve,
Isn’t God amazing!!!
When we look in front, look at the back, and we seem not to a way out of our desperate situations, He shows up on time in extraordinary ways. It strengthens our faith.
Indeed God is able, more than able.
Thanks for your good work Steve.
Marrie
You are so right — God is amazing. Thanks for reading, and for sharing your thoughts.
In Christ,
Steve Fuller
Hi Steve,
I look forward to your weekly blog posting since I came across your site a couple of months ago.
I particularly enjoy the stories about your Grandfather, Charles E. Fuller. As a young boy in a small town in Canada, we used to listen faithfully to your Grandfather’s radio message. This was before TV (in our family anyway), probably the mid-late 50’s if I can recall correctly. My Mom was a seminary grad who loved sound Gospel preaching and your Grandfather met her criterion! Still recall the words of that old hymn, “We have heard the joyful sound, Jesus saves, Jesus saves,…”.
Must read that book!
A faithful reader,
Ted
Hi Ted,
Thank you for your encouraging words. I am so glad to hear that you listened to my grandfather on the radio. He surely had a powerful ministry!
May the Lord richly bless you,
In Christ,
Steve Fuller
Thank you Steve — a good reminder of God’s promises in Matthew 6:33. Now retired at 74. His provision for us continues. We enjoy your blog and forward it to many others…
Thank you for your encouraging words, John. And thanks for forwarding posts to others — I really appreciate it!
In Christ,
Steve Fuller
Thanks Steve for sharing – Ray Ortlund posted on his blog a few days ago. I am so blessed by this story of your grandfather and all of you A29 pastors! March on for HIM!!!
Hi Steve,
I am so glad you found this story encouraging. Thank you for taking the time to let me know.
In Christ,
Steve Fuller
Thank you so much for sharing the story.I’ve so much of experiences with God. Lately, though, things have turned out gloomy again,and I don’t know what to do next. No more money,had to swallow my pride to ask from my sis and her family as I hunt for work. I cried hard with the thought why God’s letting me do it again. I cried why Go had to let me e unemployed, landing from company to company. With your story, I know very soon, God’s going to show me His will…with trust an FAITH. I only have my faith to get me going.
Thank you for your comment, Tess. I am so sorry for what you are going through.
But the truth is that as you are trusting Jesus Christ, God is using all of this to bring you even more joy in Him. Every detail of this trial is a gift to you of more joy in Him now and forever, as you let it deepen your dependence on Him and closeness to Him.
So keep trusting, keep drawing near to Him, keep fighting the fight of faith. Your future is bright with joy in Him forever — and He promises to give you everything you need now.
In Christ,
Steve Fuller
I am encouraged by your post. It’s been a rough couple of months for me and I’m trusting and holding on to God to turns things around for my good. Truth is it’s been really hard but I know He is faithful and will bring me through.
This is an amazing story and so encouraging. We often need such boosts of encouragement!