I love the story in Numbers 22 when God put a donkey in the path of Balaam to stop him from making a serious mistake. It was a rather dramatic move for sure but nonetheless needed.
God on one occasion put a roadblock in our path. It wasn’t a donkey but a simple withholding of funds that left us confused and anxious…until we realized He was only looking out for our best and preventing us from making a huge mistake..
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We knew we couldn’t do it. Perhaps we were not talented enough or smart enough. But I really think it was because we were not superwomen! Our plates were already piled high with ministry responsibilities outside of Big Dream, such as family needs (like husbands who wanted to see us occasionally and homes that needed cleaning) and the great demand of trying to learn how to teach a whole book in the Bible in forty-five minutes. All that and trying to shape the filming, choosing various people we would need to work and a thousand details both legal and practical were draining the four of us mightily. So we decide to find a skilled person to write the workbooks.
The lovely lady we choose was talented and loved to write. We very quickly realized that although the teachers were volunteers, the workbook author needed to be paid for her work. A thousand dollars a book was decide upon, and we began to work together as a team.
The first workbook was complete and we were ready to go to print. But the funds were not there. We prayed, we begged, but it seemed like heaven was closed to our requests. We became anxious wondering what was wrong. Was there sin in the camp? Had we failed to follow God’s leading?
As she was almost completing the second set, our author told us that she needed to own the copyright of all the work she had done. She also wanted royalty payments on each book sold.
We were not business women. We knew nothing about publishing or royalties or copyrights so we sought out some of the excellent “counselors” God had given us. In the end, every man from our husbands to lawyers and ministry leaders said the same thing. BDM had to own the copyright. There could be no royalties as workbooks were done as contract labor. The amount we were already paying was adequate for the work performed.
There were more meetings but an agreement could not be reached. So we came to a place where we had to part company. In the end, our author was able to keep the twelve thousand dollars and the copyright for her work and we were left with nothing except great sorrow and incredible confusion.
I don’t think I slept at all that night as loss, anxiety and frustration flooded my emotional bank. The rest of the board also spent a sleepless night.
But God was not confused or anxious. He had another plan.
The next day after our “parting of the ways” meeting I was talking to my friend Jan VanderVeen. Her husband Art had been the Senior Pastor at Fellowship Bible Church but had recently stepped down from those responsibilities and had some free time. She said she thought he would enjoy writing the workbook!
I was shocked beyond belief! Art was an excellent teacher, a Bible scholar, and a gifted writer. I never would have dreamed that anyone with such excellent credentials would have been available to write eleven workbooks! Within days we had a contract that included his very talented daughter, Carrie who would partner with him. She would collect all of the quotations and factoids and Art would do the writing. It was the perfect combo!
Once again the hand of God had helped us avoid a terrible mistake. If we had had the money, we would have gone ahead and printed the old workbooks only later to have had to destroy them because we did not own the copyright! God also provided not just one, but two outstanding authors to continue the work He had started.
Whether it is a donkey in the road or a withholding of funds, God has His ways of guiding His people.
Behold it will be said in that day: Behold, this is our God: We have waited for Him
God on one occasion put a roadblock in our path. It wasn’t a donkey but a simple withholding of funds that left us confused and anxious…until we realized He was only looking out for our best and preventing us from making a huge mistake..
***********************************************************************
We knew we couldn’t do it. Perhaps we were not talented enough or smart enough. But I really think it was because we were not superwomen! Our plates were already piled high with ministry responsibilities outside of Big Dream, such as family needs (like husbands who wanted to see us occasionally and homes that needed cleaning) and the great demand of trying to learn how to teach a whole book in the Bible in forty-five minutes. All that and trying to shape the filming, choosing various people we would need to work and a thousand details both legal and practical were draining the four of us mightily. So we decide to find a skilled person to write the workbooks.
The lovely lady we choose was talented and loved to write. We very quickly realized that although the teachers were volunteers, the workbook author needed to be paid for her work. A thousand dollars a book was decide upon, and we began to work together as a team.
The first workbook was complete and we were ready to go to print. But the funds were not there. We prayed, we begged, but it seemed like heaven was closed to our requests. We became anxious wondering what was wrong. Was there sin in the camp? Had we failed to follow God’s leading?
As she was almost completing the second set, our author told us that she needed to own the copyright of all the work she had done. She also wanted royalty payments on each book sold.
We were not business women. We knew nothing about publishing or royalties or copyrights so we sought out some of the excellent “counselors” God had given us. In the end, every man from our husbands to lawyers and ministry leaders said the same thing. BDM had to own the copyright. There could be no royalties as workbooks were done as contract labor. The amount we were already paying was adequate for the work performed.
There were more meetings but an agreement could not be reached. So we came to a place where we had to part company. In the end, our author was able to keep the twelve thousand dollars and the copyright for her work and we were left with nothing except great sorrow and incredible confusion.
I don’t think I slept at all that night as loss, anxiety and frustration flooded my emotional bank. The rest of the board also spent a sleepless night.
But God was not confused or anxious. He had another plan.
The next day after our “parting of the ways” meeting I was talking to my friend Jan VanderVeen. Her husband Art had been the Senior Pastor at Fellowship Bible Church but had recently stepped down from those responsibilities and had some free time. She said she thought he would enjoy writing the workbook!
I was shocked beyond belief! Art was an excellent teacher, a Bible scholar, and a gifted writer. I never would have dreamed that anyone with such excellent credentials would have been available to write eleven workbooks! Within days we had a contract that included his very talented daughter, Carrie who would partner with him. She would collect all of the quotations and factoids and Art would do the writing. It was the perfect combo!
Once again the hand of God had helped us avoid a terrible mistake. If we had had the money, we would have gone ahead and printed the old workbooks only later to have had to destroy them because we did not own the copyright! God also provided not just one, but two outstanding authors to continue the work He had started.
Whether it is a donkey in the road or a withholding of funds, God has His ways of guiding His people.
Behold it will be said in that day: Behold, this is our God: We have waited for Him
Psalm 32:8
I shall instruct you and teach you in the way you should go:
I will guide you with My eye.
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