Bright Spot: Trust God

Luke 12:32
Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.
All of us at Reason for Hope* pray that you had a BLESSED Thanksgiving.  It’s probably my favorite holiday.  Yes, I love Christmas, but my love of Thanksgiving is very close to Christmas, if not more.  We are blessed to have family and friends at the house and enjoy giving the Lord thanks for all that He’s done for and through us.
It’s also a time that fits in with remembering the Bright and Low spots over the last 6 years.  The first Bright Spot goes all the way back to the day that I came home from leaving my previous ministry, January 7, 2011.
It didn’t start off as a Bright Spot in my mind.  I’d just walked away from everything that I’d known for over 15 years.  When I got home Masami hugged me and encouraged me. I’d left Air Traffic Control believing that I would be with my previous ministry until the Lord called me home.  It just wasn’t to be.
I remember sitting and wondering what we were going to do, I was lost.  My calendar had been booked out for the entire year when I walked into work that morning.  When I got home, I had only 2 speaking events firmly booked the rest of the year.  I remember saying to Masami, “I sure hope I heard the Lord right!” 
We didn’t have savings in the bank or major supporters to keep everything afloat.  At around 8 PM that night I received the following email:
Message:
We would love to talk with you about the possibility of speaking at our VBS – which we are calling, Creation Expo June 13th-17th in Plano Texas (suburb or Dallas).  We usually have about 5,000 kids – and really feel that God has called us to do a creation VBS this year.  Would love to talk with you at your convenience.  Thanks!  Diana, Children’s Minister.
 
Trust me when I say that I had to read it 3 or 4 times because it just wasn’t computing, I thought it was a joke.  I responded immediately though asking for their phone number so we could talk.
She immediately responded and we were able to talk.  During the phone call she explained to me that she’d been trying to get in touch with me for a while and kept getting blocked.  She eventually searched the internet and happened to find my email.
How’s that for timing?  She sent me the email the exact same day that I walked away from everything!
God opened the door for me to speak to over 5,000 youth in their VBS that June.
That first week we received calls and emails from a variety of folks that led to a number of speaking events.
One dear friend called and asked if I could please try and make some time to speak at a youth camp in July.  I’d spoken at one of his camps a year or so before and he told me that the youth were still talking about it.
It was so funny because I said, “Tim, I just happen to have some time off.  I’d love to come and speak!”  I shared with him what had happened and he immediately booked me for two weeks in July.
I’ll never forget one call.  It showed up as “Hollywood, Florida” on my phone.  My son was with me and I said to him, “There’s a Hollywood in Florida?  I thought that was in California!”
When I answered the call it was even more amazing.  It was a Pastor from a church in Florida who said, “You come really highly recommended.  I can’t remember who recommended you, but you come really highly recommended.  Can you come and speak at our church next month?”
Needless to say, we were blown away.  I ended up being on the road for over 180 days that first year.  To God be the glory.
If you’re struggling with something at the moment, wondering what in the world is going on, hang on!  God has a way of taking those moments and using them to bring glory to Himself.  It’s hard to see sometimes, that’s for sure.
We’re still living day by day.  We don’t have a lot of financial reserves, but we are creating things that I would’ve never believed we could do.  We can’t wait for you to see the new “Fast Facts” that we’re very close to finishing.  We’ll have more amazing projects that we can tell you about very soon.  God is good, all the time.  Thanks for your prayers and support.
Stay Bold!