WRITTEN BY CHERYL WELLS
I waited to write this one till the last minute as God has been showing me over and over His provision. I love it when I am walking it out and experiencing God in the midst of what He wants me to share and praise Him for.
I boast in You all day long and praise and give thanks to Your name forever.
Psalm 44:8
Let’s just say that Mike and I both have been in a position of needing God’s provision and waiting for it this past season of about 3-6 months. Totally dependent on Him for many things and for His favor and anointing to get through what we knew He had for us. This would be way too long and too early to share the details, but trust me when I say that He has been expanding our territory and His influence through what He was showing us to do for the Kingdom. This has included both our businesses and our ministry, as well as our personal influence and professional influence.
I can share that I have been in a very tight place at work and in the ministry as my team was diminished a lot from January to April and God gave me the word “valiant” for this year in the end of December. I knew that He was going to stretch me and it would be hard, but I knew He would be faithful. As people left or were called out for different reasons, I just kept picking up more and had to do things that I had never done before. It was going well and I was learning a lot. Deep trust was there. God has taught me through my more than 40 years of walking with Jesus that I have all I need and He is my provider. What an amazing adventure it is when we trust God and walk by faith and watch Him open and close doors and show up at just the right time. I have so many stories to share.
In the middle of April, my General Manager and Head Decorator left Habitué and I was faced with a big gap that I knew I would need to fill and didn’t have time to hire and train before wedding season started in the middle of May. I went to Chicago immediately and got trained in cake decorating and got back with wedding orders staring me in the face. God was so faithful. Talk about provision! My first cake order when I got back was for a wedding that weekend and I had to do a shaped cake for a groom that was a chef! He wanted a chef’s hat, which was not included in my training. I got trained in buttercream techniques for decorating and also in fondant and making and stacking tiered cakes. No shaped or carved cakes. I knew the only way I would get it done was by the Spirit of God. I was confident and He was so faithful. The cake was done and Chef Paul loved it!! As well as his brides’ cake. We have done so many weddings this summer so far, we had 4 I think every week in June!
School got out and I had really good high school students coming to work full time and God began to just pour out His blessing on me and my team. I had people come back to work who didn’t know what was going on. They just started to call and ask if they could work this summer. Two people that had worked for me before in key positions came and one young lady came and asked if she could do an internship and learn from me, which I didn’t think would work and didn’t see the benefit at first. She persisted and God showed me to bring her in and what a blessing she has been. She has learned so much and she brought so much! I ended up hiring her and she is still working for me now. Summer was good and I stepped into teaching my whole staff and new people how to make cakes and how to decorate at different levels. It was so much fun to see them get it and feel good about what they were doing. But I knew fall was coming. I began to prepare myself and tried to prepare the team for everyone going back to school. I knew we were going to lose about 8 people that were all working full time and no one new had come to fill any of those spots. Along with that two of my good full-time people came to me to tell me that they couldn’t work full time when school started. Wow! That was kind of a hard day, but I kept my eyes on God’s provision. It was so drastic that I knew there was a point and that He was in it. I just had to trust. I could accept it and I knew it was for the best for these two people and I wanted them to know I understood and I wanted God’s best for them. We went from about 14 full-time people to 5 including myself and 3 part-time people and then 4 high school students that only work about 10-12 hours a week. We have lots of weddings yet to finish out this year in September and October and a couple in November and December.
I was in a difficult place but I knew the answer was to praise and trust God. I knew He would provide. And He has once again. In the nick of time and with His best provision He has provided again and I just hired a new General Manager and one other full-time person, as well as another high school student and several people to support me and the ministry of Side by Side. God is bringing back people that left for a season and now is the time! I had to wait and trust and thank Him in the waiting. God’s grace has been sufficient and I knew in my weakness that He would be strong. Also, I love 2 Corinthians 9:8 that says, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you will have an abundance for every good deed”.
Since the store opened 10 years ago and even since we opened the ministry 20 years ago, I have gone to this section of scripture and God showed me that He wanted me to remember His circle and cycle of grace. That as He poured into us and provided what we needed, that we were to lift it up to Him and give Him all the glory and He pours back in and we lift it back up to His glory! We have always sensed that and wanted Him to get all the glory. He has always provided the resources, the strength, the wisdom, everything. However, for the first time, I sensed that I needed to ask Him if He had another plan.
I had to lay it all down on many days and surrender to the point of even asking if He wanted the business to remain open or have me lay it down and give it all up. I am so reminded of Abraham and laying Isaac down on the altar. But God provided the ram for the sacrifice and Isaac was spared.
Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
Genesis 22:13-14
Jehovah Jireh is my provider! He always has been and I praise Him! Mike has his stories to tell and that will come in time. We are praising Him together “side by side”.
- Tell God you trust Him and believe for the answer when you don’t see it coming. All He wants is for us to trust him and ask for what we need. I am praying for you all that you will see that God will provide and simply trust.
- How can we pray for you and stand in the gap for you as you wait on God?
- Wait and you will see God’s provision. It is right around the corner. We just can’t have it until we believe and walk in faith. We are standing with you.
