“…‘It is useless to serve God;
What profit is it that we have kept His ordinance…” Malachi 3:14 (NKJV)
So, yesterday was a little discouraging. I wanted to get away and seek the Lord on many occasions but when things are planned and set in motion sometimes it’s difficult to get away. I wanted to scream, I wanted to cry, I wanted to pull my hair out and I wanted to laugh all at once! Isn’t it odd how we deal with frustration sometimes?
So we had the mini-conference for the ladies yesterday. That went well, it was just the information I received before the meeting that really bogged me down. Listen to this! The loans that SMFE gives range from $100-$1100, you must have a business for 6 months running before you get to apply for a loan, OK, that makes sense so far. You must have 20% of the amount of the loan in savings… these people have nothing… You have to pay the loan back within 6 months, the first payment being one month after you receive the loan, and at 40% interest, the rest of the payments being at 20% interest!!! This is worse than MoneyTree! Who actually takes out loans in this country?? You’ve got to be joking! Obviously I told the guy to train on business stuff and answer questions of which there were many.
So, what am I doing… I am a positive person, and this is really pushing me down. So when I got back home I sought the Lord, “Jesus, I feel that you have led me down this path, I pray about this small project that I am doing and feel you continuing to guide me in this path. Am I really hearing you? What are you doing? I have worked at this for the last month, now what?” Right away God gave me a verse. He impressed Malachi 3:14 in my mind and I turned to it to see what it said. You can read it at the top, this question was again on my mind… but if you read a few verses down it says,
“17God-of-the-Angel-Armies said, “They’re mine, all mine. They’ll get special treatment when I go into action. I treat them with the same consideration and kindness that parents give the child who honors them. 18Once more you’ll see the difference it makes between being a person who does the right thing and one who doesn’t, between serving God and not serving him.” Malachi 3:17-18 (The Message)
Thank you Jesus that I do not work in vain!! Thank you Father that things are not what they seem. Thank you Saviour that you have everything under control. Thank you God-of-the-Angel-Armies that you know what I am going through and you are with me; guiding me the whole time.
God, being the good redeeming God that He is. Brought another gentleman mysteriously to the meeting. His name is Maphoyisa and as he was chatting to me before the conference about loans that he had had he mentioned a much better idea to get poor people capital to start businesses. I know that this has been one in the past and may be still around now. It’s when a group of people gets together, each person pays a small amount every month to the group, then you can have loans from that entity that you’re a part of and you’ve created. There is a small interest charge just to keep the money growing, and boom, people have start-up money to start businesses and start making money for themselves. I got Maphoyisa to share this with the ladies, there was a guy up the road who was a part of one and could explain the workings of it to the ladies, I asked the ladies who would go talk with that guy, they appointed a lady and I told her to go there as soon as possible. If you don’t do something, nothing happens! Maybe that’s my Western mindset creeping in yet again but whatever…
So thank you Jesus that you are the redeemer, and thank you when that redemption comes at just the right time!!
