The Author and Perfecter of My Faith

    My most recent, ardent and repeated prayer has been that the Lord would give me more faith.  He has answered by underlining His provisions markedly.  By taking them away.  And then restoring them. 
    1) A blessing of insurance that reduced a $1052 dental bill to $200.  (Praise God!) Followed by a letter saying the insurance would not cover the bill. (Despair.) Followed by several phone calls that revealed the dentist had submitted the wrong insurance number for our family! (Double praises and realization of how tied to circumstances my weak faith is.)
    2) A blessing of substantial college scholarships for Leah.  (Praise you, Lord!) Followed by an Award Letter that has the scholarships greatly reduced.  (Despair.)  Followed by a phone call and an almost immediate correction to the original amount promised. (Oh, Lord, thank you for this generous provision. I wasn't nearly grateful enough the first time, took it as Leah's just desserts for working so hard.  Thank you for giving, thank you for taking away and thank you for giving again to make my heart so much more grateful.)
   3) A blessing of substantial college scholarships for John.  (Praises to Our Provider!!)  Followed by an Award Letter that the scholarships would be about half what we had been told.  (Doubt, mixed with hope -- but also acceptance: If this is your will for John, Lord, we accept it as best.)  Followed by a short period of waiting, and then ... a corrected Awards Letter.  (Oh, Lord, I think I'm getting it.  I think my faith is growing.  I've been missing your provisions, taking them too much in stride or as something that somehow we earned.  And I've been too easily daunted by circumstances.)
   We are in a period where we have had and will continue to have some large, necessary expenses, most of them dental.  I raise my Ebeneezer;  Thus far, the Lord has provided.  How He will do it in the future, I really don't see.  But, thus far, the Lord has provided.  All we have needed, Thy hand has provided. Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.
     There are so many more dental expenses.  But He has already provided money to cover at least some of these through a surprise refund from a reinvestment.  We can trust Him to give us this day our daily bread -- not tomorrow's daily bread -- just today's.  I thank you, Lord, for building my faith and meeting our needs in a way that makes it clear that the provision comes directly from your hand at just the right moment.