Episode Transcript
It's all too often said that there are no miracles performed these days. Well, I'd like to challenge this idea with my story of the more abundant God. Welcome to miracles in the 21st century. I'm Ann Browning. My husband Michael and I had been called to take up a new position down in Tasmania, down in a place called Margate. And so we packed all our belongings and some friends of ours down there had offered us to stay in their farmhouse while we looked for a place to buy. We had our two children, both our children were in high school. And so off we went to our new posting. We came to the farmhouse which was lovely being out on the farm, but it was getting cooler. And so we knew we needed to get a place set up and organized so the kid could go to school on the bus. So I began to look at the real estate agent listings and I visited all of the agencies and asked them to keep an eye out for a place that would be suitable for us. And I had some very, very important needs. One, we needed a room for each of the kids. We needed a study and we needed our bedroom. So we needed a four bedroom home. And so I kept looking, I think I looked at, I looked at dozens and dozens of homes. Nothing was suitable. And it was getting freezing. There was a lovely big fireplace in this farmhouse, but you just about had to sit in the fireplace to keep warm. And it became so cold and the cold was really going to my bones. And so I finally decided I need to get serious about praying about this. So I began to pray three times a day and more. And I wrote a list down in my book. I had three lists. I had one list that were the absolute essentials. And I put a Bible text above that. My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in Christ Jesus. I wrote down a second list of things that would be lovely to have non essential, but would make our life easier. And I put the text above that. Delight yourself in the Lord and he shall give you the desires of your heart. And I put a third text which was the over, over the top desires of my heart. And I thought about the text where God says he wants to give us life and give us more abundantly. So I began to pray really seriously about this need for a house. I had a job and I was off to work one day and I had to go to the bank. And I thought, do I go to the bank in Hobart or, or do I go to the bank in Kingston? And I thought, well, the parking's going to be Easier at Kingston. So I drove into the Kingston car park and I ended up the only car park I could find was opposite the pet shop. And being a pet loving person, I thought, before I go into the bank, I'll just go and see what new pets are in. So I walked into this pet shop, had a look, they had some lovely little baby bunnies and I was really enjoying that. And then I stepped out of the pet shop and ran into a real estate agent that I'd known and I said, oh, I'm really sorry. I actually physically bumped into him. And I said, oh, have you found any houses lately? He said, well, well, well, actually I have. There's a house that just came on the market. Somebody's going to look at it at six o' clock tonight. And they're very, they look like they want to purchase it. They're having a second look. And I said, where is the house? And he told me where. And I thought, oh, wow, that's probably down in the gully and that will be freezing. So I thanked him and went off to do my work during that day, praying constantly. On the way back, I came to a crossroad and I would go one way to where we were staying at the farm or the other way where this, this address was, where this house was. When I got to that corner, I kid you not, I heard God's voice and he said, anne, go and look at the house. And I said, all right, Lord, I'll go and look at that house. So I drove up, drove into this cul de sac, quite surprised because it wasn't in a gully, it was on the top of a ridge. And as I drove around the cul de sac toward the house, God said, this is your house. The voice, I know, it's as clear as the bell. I heard this voice. So I turned around really quickly, rushed back to where we were staying at the farm. Michael was mowing the lawn. I rang the real estate agent and I said, we have to look at that house. He said, you can't. There's someone coming at 4 o', clock, I think it might have been. And he said, I can't let you see it because these people, I've promised them. I said, you can show it to me beforehand. Nothing signed at this moment, but this is Friday and we need to have a look at this and sort things out before Sabbath. And he said, oh, oh, all right. I said, I'll grab Mike, I'll meet you there in half an hour. So he came. Mike came in his Gumboots. And we went to the house that was very overcast and drizzling ra. And so he let us go in and have a look at the house. We could see it had four bedrooms. It had a nice big heater. It had a good kitchen. That's all we saw. And I said, we will take this house, and we're not going to quibble about the price. He said, oh, what should I do about this? These other people are coming. I said, show it to them, but this has to be sorted out before Sabbath. And he said to me, oh, okay, I'll ring you back. So we took off and he waited, and these other people came to have a look at the house. And he rang me not long after that. And he said, these people have offered the same amount of money as you. And I said, well, what can we do about it? He said, well, I've just rung my boss. And he said, I have to present both offers to the owner. And then the owner chooses which offer. Is that all right with you? And I said, sure, because I knew that God had said, this is our house. And a few minutes later he rang me back and he said, I don't believe this. I don't believe this. I said, what don't you believe? He said, well, I rang the other people back to tell them what we had to do. And they said to us, who are the other people that are asking to buy the house and have made the offer? He said, well, he's a pastor of a church, and he and his wife have put in the offer. And the other people said, well, he said, let them have it. He said, they've got God on their side. I can't compete with God, so let them have it. And so he rang me back, shocked, and he said, these people are so desperate to have it, but they've said, you can have it. I said, that is wonderful. Can you please get everything sorted out before Sabbath? He rang me a few minutes later. He said, everything sorted out? Can you come to my house on Sunday, sign the documents? And he said, I want you to tell my wife about this amazing miracle. I've never seen anything like this. Our God is the abundant God. Because on Sunday he took us through that house, and every single thing on my first list was there. Every single thing on the second list was there. And would you believe it? Everything on my third list was there. It makes me emotional to think about God thought about all those extra things. Because on Sunday the sun was shining. We were able to see everything. The view was amazing. The place was incredible. And our kids said it's the best house they've ever lived in.
