Catering to His Will
Julia Graham, a single mom of four and a caterer, made just enough to take care of her family, but in 2001 the hotel catering business took a downturn, leaving Julia without her main source of income.
"Catering for companies involves Christmas parties and meetings. I mean, we had them canceling left and right," Julia says.
Julia did what she could, but it wasn’t enough.
"I pretty much had to pay bills on credit cards for a while there, which is not how anybody should do it, but you have to survive," she admits.
In time, Julia racked up more than $35,000 in credit card debt.
"I just felt like I was making a terrible mess of my life or life was just happening and causing disasters," she says. "I felt horrible."
Then Julia’s mother had a stroke and needed to move in. Now Julia needed a bigger house, but with so much debt, how could she accommodate that?
Julia thought that the loan officers would laugh at her and say, "We’ll give you a paper bag and you can be a bag lady. We’ll finance you a tent." Instead, she got the loan and the house. "When they said, 'We’ll approve the loan,' I was more or less flabbergasted," she states.
How does someone who is $35,000 in debt and practically unemployed get a house loan?
"I give in to God, whether it's helping people, serving, or continuing to tithe and give and not give up on that," she explains.
Even in the midst of her hardships, Julia gave faithfully to her church and to ministries like CBN.
"You can’t out-give God," she says. "He doesn’t need our money. He needs our heart and our attitude. When we give, the blessings just chase us down the street. That’s just the way God works."
It’s called the Law of Reciprocity.
"Whenever I seem to have a need and, lots of times, wants, He just seems to take care of it," Julia says. "I just take care of His business, and He always takes care of mine."
Julia received payment for a car she had sold months before, and she paid off her credit card debt using money from her divorce settlement. Though heartbroken over her marriage, Julia accepted the money as part of God’s provision for her family.
"He protects you and takes care of you in an awesome way," she says.
Today the catering business is back on track. Julia has settled into her new home, and she has stayed out of credit card debt. Julia admits she made mistakes, but she knows that when she gives faithfully to God, God is faithful to take care of her.
Says Julia, "He’s looking at our attitude of heart. He wants us to be a river with our finances and not a reservoir. God’s ways are not our ways, and His laws are different from what the world thinks. God just wants you to let go and trust. That’s what faith all about."
Julia was faithful and obedient to God's prompting, and He has filled her life with blessings. He wants to bless you, too! Discover God's secret of reciprocity by becoming a CBN partner today. Through your partnership with CBN, you will help feed hungry children here in America and around the world, give practical teaching and biblical answers through The 700 Club broadcast, and bring relief to those with physical and spiritual needs. Please join today.
