The Times When I Knew I Needed God
Man, I have needed God so many times in my life.
When the doctors said my unborn daughter would die in the womb.
When the OBGYN said my unborn son had a bilateral cleft palate.
When the economy tanked in 2009, wrecking my real estate title business and forcing us to sell our home and move into a rental.
When a side business blew up in 2010, taking half my income and destroying a best friendship in the process.
When financial stress ripped at the foundation of my marriage.
When our landlord told us to move in 2013, right in the middle of our fragile recovery.
When deep discouragement smothered me during a long, dark season just a few years ago.
Things beyond our control hit us when we least expect them, and we realize how much we need God’s help and deliverance. If you’re like me, you cry out to Him and learn that He always responds. Not always in our timing, but always on His perfect timetable.
God Sees the Beginning from the End and the End from the Beginning
But then there are times when things are about to happen that we don’t see coming, but God isn’t surprised and throws us a lifeline before we know we’re drowning.
After all, He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, who sees the beginning from the end and the end from the beginning.
God said about His followers in Psalm 91:14, “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.”
In December 2023, the One and Only Omniscient God rescued me before I knew danger lurked around the corner, ready to launch and blindside me. After 27 faithful years of homeschooling our three children, my wife graduated our youngest and stepped into a new adventure—a job.
The Lord has always provided. For the last 15 years, He has provided through my full-time job and a small side hustle—searching titles for real estate closings—but money has always been tight. The extra income from my wife’s new job would give us a buffer we’ve never had, and I was excited— and relieved.
When I Didn’t See Trouble On the Horizon
Now, cue the music for the major plot twist.
Over 90% of my title searching income came from one client I served for 30 years. That side hustle had been a full-time business until the 2008–2009 real estate crash. Around mid-December of 2023, I noticed this client hadn’t emailed me any new work orders. I attributed the slowdown to the holidays and the end of the year. By mid-January, I was concerned and contacted them.
The attorney I had a 30-year relationship with had retired within the last couple of years, and the firm hired a new real estate attorney. With no advance notice, the new lawyer went with a different freelance title examiner.
Her decision could have devastated me financially.
But God.
He saw it coming. He made a way when I didn’t know I needed one. He made a stream because He saw a drought coming.
Psalm 91:9-10 says, “If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.”
God knew I would soon be crying out to Him like I always do when trouble strikes, so He took advance measures to protect me. He provided income through my wife.
The Next Chapter
Fast forward a year. My title examination business is on life support, and my wife is miserable in her job. If a husband doesn’t feel his wife’s pain, something’s wrong with him. In an act of faith, I encouraged her to give her notice.
Her brother hired her part-time almost immediately.
But here’s the really cool part.
The new-ish lawyer who had stopped using my title services left the firm, and the closing secretary I had worked with for 20 years texted me immediately, “Would you be willing to do our title searches again?”
I was reminded of Ezekiel 37, where God breathes life into dry, dead bones. That’s exactly what my title business had become—dry bones. And now, with a single text message, the breath of new life had begun.
Your Hope In Jesus Christ
When you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, God adopts you into His family, and you become a child of the King, who owns the cattle on a thousand hills.
As His children, we can live in peace, with joy, without fear or anxiety. In fact, this is how God wants us to live – it is His will for our lives.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (Emphasis mine).
Please hear me. Listen up if you’re in the back of the room. I’m not saying life as a Christian is always easy. It’s not. Can I refer you back to my opening paragraph?
What I am saying – God is a Good Father. He listens and cares. God is faithful. He provides. He heals. He protects. He sees ahead and diverts danger away. He knows.
Keep the Faith Through Adversity
But sometimes, He lets us go through adversity for a higher purpose, to work out our faith in fear and trembling.
The Apostle Paul said it best in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, 16-18:
“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
Don’t lose heart if you’re going through a difficult season of life. Keep the faith. Keep praying and casting your burdens on the Lord. Listen to His voice and obey His Word. God has rescued me so many times, and I have complete confidence He will do the same for you.
Onword and Upwords by Dennis Brady 
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