"Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things..." Alma 26:12
For the last thirty years, I have essentially been self-employed. Working in that mode requires that one wears many hats, and takes care of numerous functions that must be in balance in order to keep one's business (typically one's sole source of income) running effectively and profitably.
About 15 years ago, due to an accounting error from my outside accountant, I was advised, (too late to change the outcome,) that the impending "payroll could not be met." I've always been a firm believer that the last thing an employee should have to worry about is whether or not they are going to get paid. Of all of the mutual commitments employees and employers make between them, I feel that the duty of loyalty from a boss to an employee is that as long as he is working for me, he will be paid, in full, and on time.
With this in mind, when this occasion arose, it was apparent to me that the possibility of missing so much as a single dollar of payroll, would inevitably result in an immediate and irretrievable failure of the business. In this situation, I was met with the decision to take the money that was put away for tithing and use it, instead, for payroll. In my mind, that decision would be at least as negative, if not more so, than not paying my employees. For who would it be worse to rob? God, or my fellow man? Neither was acceptable, and both would spell disaster.
The only decision that could be made, was made. Pay tithing, and rely on Heavenly Father to provide. This was after "all that I could do" and after so many decades of experience, realizing that after having applied all of the knowledge and resources that I had available to me, that my only option was to fall to my knees, and humbly admit to Heavenly Father, that I knew of no way out of the mess, and could he please help me understand what I must do, in order to resolve the problem.
What happened still burns brightly after all these years, so I will share it here. Later in the day, after sincere supplication and prayer with the Lord, my dear friend, (now departed) David Thomas called me. He wanted to know if I could go to lunch with him. He was one of my favorite people, and a dear, and respected mentor. Of course, I sought his company, as I felt that perhaps he would have a good idea for me. When I explained what had happened, and how I didn't know what to do, David gave me an excellent idea.
David asked: You own your office building outright, is that correct? I said, yes, that is correct. He asked, "do you have any invoices that clients owe you, that they have not yet paid?" And I said, yes, that is also true. He said, do you pay your tithing? To which I answered, of course. Always, and on time.
So he said, "Brad, I often make a little extra income by factoring other people's receivables. The problem is, factoring is very expensive, and I don't think it would be a good idea for you. (Factors, as I understand it, typically charge up to a 40% discount.) Dave said, you can sell me your invoices, at a rate of 1 point each time you do it, plus a 2% per month interest rate. If you sell me an invoice, and you pay back the loan on the invoice within a month, that means it will cost you 3% in total. Over a year's time, that is an equivalent interest rate of 25%, but I don't think you'll need to go that long. He said, instead of using your invoices as collateral, you will give me a lien on your building to cover the value of the loan.
David was willing to make me the deal on the spot, because he knew me well, and knew that I paid my tithing. I accepted his kind, and entirely unexpected offer, and was able to meet payroll, on time, the next day. Based on the arrangement he made with me, the matter was completely resolved within thirty days.
Because I relied on the Lord, he found a way for me to continue to meet all of my obligations, while not taking charity, or failing. Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things..." Alma 26:12
What experiences have you had in relying on the Lord to make up for the last bit of strength you needed that was beyond your reach?
Reading this story made me think of when my husband and I first got married. A couple weeks before our wedding, Scott was laid off from his job and we were both still in school. Even though it was pretty scary going into a marriage knowing that only one of us was working a low-paying part-time job, I just felt peace that everything would work out. He was out of work for almost 6 months, but we continued to pay our tithing and everything fell into place. Family members would leave boxes of food on our doorstep and lend us money if we were short on rent. Although Scott had a hard time finding a new job, I had faith that the Lord would take care of us as long as we did our part. In the end, he found a job that held us over until he found the job that he has now, which has been the biggest blessing in our lives.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Brooke, for sharing your story. Since the Lord blesses us all, I'd imagine that stories like ours, where we relied on The Lord, and received strength greater than our own, are not that unusual.
DeleteIf you are reading this post, please do share your story about how Heavenly Father has lifted you up through your faith.