Remember the Wonders

ByLynn Austin
27 Comments

As another week of quarantine begins, I’ve noticed a new worry taking root in my heart. Finances. With the stock market on a roller-coaster ride, I’m growing concerned about what my husband and I will live on in the future if our retirement fund vanishes. Our senior friends and family members face the same worry. Many of my friends make their living through conferences and retreats and concerts—all of which have been cancelled, leaving them without an income. My son and many others have been laid off from work without pay.

But I think I’ve discovered an antidote to my financial fears, and for the many other fears that have arisen during these strange times: Remembering.

I remember a time, years ago, when our finances were extremely tight after my husband went into full-time ministry. I was trying to outfit our three children for school one fall and the list of school supplies ate up a huge chunk of our budget, leaving little room for clothes. The kids would need warm boots for the Canadian winters, which meant we could afford only one pair of shoes apiece—and they would have to be gym shoes. Our son Ben, then six years old, spotted a pair of shiny, black dress shoes like his dad wore to church, and he begged me to buy them instead of the gym shoes. He wanted to dress up for church, too. I had to say no.

“Then I’ll pray and ask God for them,” he replied.

Uh oh. His simple faith astounded me. And worried me. How could I support and encourage his fledgling prayer life yet still teach him that prayer isn’t a magic wand you can wave to get whatever you want? I had no idea. But meanwhile, I started scrambling for a way to “play God” and buy those shoes for him. Maybe I could find some extra cash somewhere or ask Grandma for a loan. Because truthfully, I didn’t quite believe that God would answer Ben’s prayer.

The very next day—while I was still scheming—my neighbor came over with a bag of clothes that her son Martin had outgrown. He was a year older than Ben, and I was grateful for the hand-me-downs. “Now, I don’t know if you’ll want these or not,” she said. “Martin was in a wedding last year and he only wore them once.” She pulled a pair of shiny, black dress shoes from the bag.

They were Ben’s size.

“Yes,” I murmured, barely able to breathe.

“Well, good. Then here’s another pair Ben can grow into.” She lifted a second pair from the bag. “Martin was in another wedding recently and I know he’ll never wear these again, either.”

I’m quite sure I heard God laughing.

Ben treasured both pairs of those shoes, and I know that his faith grew from the experience—as did mine. I had known in theory that God feeds the sparrows and clothes the lilies, but I learned that He also hears a six-year-old boy’s very specific prayers and is well able to answer them. To abundantly answer them! And now, remembering this lesson, I know that I can trust God with my prayers for the future.

Jesus said “So do not worry, saying ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’…Your Heavenly Father knows that you need them.” In fact, He even knows your shoe size.

In these trying times, let’s all “Remember the wonders He has done…” (Psalm 105:5) and trust Him to hear our prayers.

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Lynn Austin, a former teacher who now writes and speaks full time. Lynn was recently inducted into the Christy Award Hall for Fame for winning eight Christy Awards for her historical fiction. One of those novels, Hidden Places, has also been made into a Hallmark Channel movie. Lynn and her husband have raised three children and make their home near Chicago, Illinois.

27 Comments

  1. Praise God for the faith of a child!!! How we should all be like that, especially in these uncertain days. The Lord has said “ never will I fail you, nor forsake you “
    Thankyou Lynn, I just loved this.
    I was surprised when you spoke of Canadian winters! I did not know you were in Canada 🇨🇦 fellow Canadian here 😊

    1. Hi Grace! Our family lived in Canada for eleven years. Ben and our daughter were born there. We have many happy memories of our years there and many great friends.

  2. I’ve heard you tell this story several times, Lynn, and it always brings tears to my eyes, and then praise to my lips as I recall similar ways God has answered both my feeble and my faith-filled prayers!

    Merci!

  3. Lynn, your posts are always so encouraging, but today’s is a special blessing. My word for the year is: “Faith of a Child”. I chose it because I want to trust in my Heavenly Father as a
    little child trust his earthly father. His promises are always true, and He tells us that He will take care of us! Oh, how sweet to trust in Abba (Daddy God)!

  5. What a wonderful example of God’s faithful provision and his love for us. Thanks for sharing this, Lynn!

  11. Encouraging testimony, Lynn. Thank you! It’s so needful to remember; faith looking back at what God has done. He answered a prayer like this for me recently. I actually asked Him to provide for a need in a way I could never seen coming (since honestly I couldn’t see *any* way), but I confess I no more than half believed it would happen. A few weeks later my husband walked in the door and announced that some money was coming our way unexpectedly. When he told me the amount, which exactly covered the need I didn’t tell him I was praying about, I burst into giggles. Then told him what I’d prayed.

  12. Thank you for sharing such a special story. With tears in my eyes, a laugh, and a smile I remembered a prayer I prayed last week asking God to help get a roll of stamps to my 92-year old Mom. No surprise He did. Prayer 🙏 is trusting and these trying times make it difficult but I realize it shouldn’t! Have a blessed day!

  14. Lynn, I LOVE this story! It’s sometimes hard for we adults to believe God will answer a child’s prayer, but didn’t Jesus say, “Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” ?

  15. Thank you so much for this reminder, Lynn. Just this morning, my husband lost his second-longest client. Last week, he lost his longest client. I was just standing outside with him not five minutes ago in tears, wondering what we’ll do about the loss of income, praying we don’t get any more bad news. And then I read your post, and the verse about not worrying about what we’ll eat or what we’ll wear. It was like God saying, don’t worry. I knew this was coming. I’ve got this. I appreciate your encouragement to remember what the Lord has done—and what He will do again.

    Ironically, I’ve been needing a good book to lift my spirits, so I looked through my collection of dearly-loved stories and saw A Proper Pursuit. I’ve read it twice before (I’ve only read a handful of books more than once—your Refiner’s Series is one), but as I picked it up, to read for the third time, it has been such a sweet escape for me and just as wonderful as the first two times! Your books remind me why I wanted to be a writer. ❤️ Thank you.

  17. What a joy and refreshing attitude your son had by flinging out his prayer “I’ll just ask God”….. ..mè too.

  18. What a testimony! God has provided for us through the years too. When my kids were growing up there would be times we didn’t have a dollar by Wednesday. Yet we never went hungry and we had the money to always pay our bills somehow. God is good and always provides.

  19. LOVE that story about Ben and how God worked in his life at such a young age to shape the man of faith he is today. And how encouraging to see God working in the life and heart of your child. Thank you, Lynn, for sharing. And for being you!

  20. Beautiful story. I believe so much in the power of prayer and that He does indeed hear and answer. What a wonderful time to be alive and share these faith filled messages with so many around the world at the click of a button! Thank you for sharing. Many do need to hear these hope filled words now.

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