By Peter Chow

“…yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.”
Habakkuk 3:18

For most, 2020 has been a challenging year…the pandemic…social distancing…shelter-in-place….lockdowns.  There are a lot of negativities when we think about these words.  But despite these circumstances, a few things that God has been teaching me through all this are that He is always working in everyone’s lives — including MINE and that each and every day, there is always something we can rejoice in the Lord about.

During the last session of our Missions Conference, Pastor Brett really spoke to me about the dire needs of many living in our county.  But he also offered hope…if 160,000 households gave $730 each, $117 million of rent debt could be erased immediately.  So the very next morning, I wanted to participate in this cause and decided to donate $1000.  God has blessed me so generously throughout the year and this was the least I could do.  Two things happened after this that totally demonstrated God wanted to speak to me through this.

A couple of days after I donated, I received a postcard in the mail.  It was to notify me that I am part of a class action lawsuit against a car manufacturer because of a faulty part which caused unreasonable repairs.  This was a car that I no longer owned, but in fact I did pay for those repairs 4 years ago.  I just had to fill out the form and I could get back up to $1000!  At that point, I knew this was a ‘God-thing’ — it was no coincidence.  It’s not like I get these postcards everyday — but I do get a few of these postcards throughout the year.  Anyways, I submitted the form online but who knows, as a lot of times nothing will come out of this so it’s not a guarantee that I will get any money back.  But the fact that it was for $1000 really confirmed that God was prompting me to make the donation.

Exactly, a week after I donated, I received a letter in the mail.  It looked like a check.  It was from some Claim Administrator.  I opened the letter to confirm that it was a check but I didn’t look at the amount until later.  Usually these checks don’t amount to much.  I think I’ve gotten between $5 to $40 from these similar checks before.  Later that night, when I looked at the check more closely, I became speechless and astounded.  It was for $1,029.19!  I did some research and found out that I had submitted this claim a year ago.

The point of this writing is not to say that when you donate, you should expect God to give you back the money.  What I am most happy about is the fact that God wanted me to participate in His cause, He confirmed it, and how He revealed Himself to me through this incident.  When you have been a Christian for a long time, sometimes it feels these things only happen to other people.  I’m so glad that this time it happened for me.  In the bigger picture, I learned that God is really the CFO of all my finances — I just work in the finance department….with JOY!!!

It was a short and sweet time with God and many women at the Empower Retreat.  The most memorable moments from the retreat were God’s swift and humorous response to me: “I see you. my dear, I do!”

The theme of the retreat was centered around the breaking of lies. On the first night, we were asked to write down the lies about ourselves in the mirror.  My lists were not quite uplifting: I am a loser, not as good as others, unworthy, no one looks at me. Then a voice answered me, “I look at you. Yes, I do!”

At the retreat, I realized that so many women were like me, who suffer from low self-esteem. They think they are unlovable, desperate for other people’s love and acceptance. They want to perform well so that others would look at them and pay attention.  Even for long time  Christians and we still sometimes fall into Satan’s scheme.  Thanks to God who spoke to my heart that night. He confirmed to me who I am, a beloved daughter of our dear Heavenly Father.  He does not need me to do anything in return. He made me, and He knows me well. Read more →