What do those things have in common? (Other than starting with the letter "G")
Well, nothing really. Actually, I'm not sure. I could be wrong. But anyways, this is the story/my testimony of how God showed His faithfulness to me through a GoPro.
It's funny how God can show His faithfulness to me though something as "meaningless" as a GoPro. I say this because you would think that God would do it by like, say, a miracle of some sorts. Such as curing someone of cancer, or delivering someone from extreme debt, or healing their hearts from depression or intense grief.
But no. God showed me through a GoPro. And here's how.
Back in August of 2016, Knahila, a friend of mine, shared via her Instagram page a GoFundMe page that she and her church had started. It's called "Hope for Venezuela". The purpose of this funding is to team up with a churching the country to help raise funds for the people of Venezuela, since they are struggling from a lack of basic needs; food, medical supplies, toiletries, and so on. Apparently, the government is not doing its job, and I think I read somewhere that the people of the nation have to go into the surrounding ones just to be able to purchase food. Now, I'm not entirely sure how the whole situation is right now, but please do research into this if you want to know more.
So, I came across Knahila's post and gave it some thought. I felt like God was beginning to place on my heart the desire to donate. But I was unsure, so I spoke to Knahila about it and then I began to pray about it. I began asking God what He wanted me to do if I should donate money or not. Now, I'm not entirely sure if He answered me (though I'm pretty sure He did), but after a while, I felt within my heart that I wanted to donate money. But I did not want to donate a mere $5 or $20. I wanted to give a sum of money that would greatly benefit the cause. So I kept praying. At this point in time, no one had donated yet.
After a while, I had decided that I wanted to donate. So I looked at my bank account and saw that, at the time, I had $382. As I prayed about it, I decided that I wanted to give $182, so that it would come out as an even number ($200).
Now, keep in mind, looking back, $182 is a lot of money. Like, a lot. But at the time, I didn't care. I felt that the people of Venezuela needed it more than I do. And, deep within my heart, I felt peace at giving this huge sum of money. I knew in my heart that God would pay me back, but I had reached a state of content that I didn't care whether or not God paid me back at all. I wanted God's will to be played out. So, I donated $182, the first person to do so for the fundraiser. I prayed about it, and my mom got angry with me for giving such a huge amount of money away, but she was calm afterward, telling me to be more "careful and mindful" with my money.
Now, let me stop here to make something clear. I'm not sure if it's Biblical, but when we do things for God, He will pay us back. When we make sacrifices for God, He will honor those sacrifices and "pay" us in return. This, my friend, is what I believe faithfulness to be. Now I could be wrong with that word, but that's what I feel it means. In my case, I made a sacrifice of $182 for God, He saw that, and would honor me by paying me back, whether through money or something else.
Now, back to my testimony. I had made this donation Monday, August 29th, the first day of classes. During the first week of classes, my school had an Welcome Back Week, with various events occurring to welcome the students back to campus. The event for the Thursday of that week, September 1st, was Bingo. Bingo, and the chance to win prizes is always fun. So I decided to go with my then new friends.
The grand prize for the night was a GoPro. But not just a GoPro, but a GoPro, a SanDisk 32 GB card, a GoPro wireless WiFi remote, and a case to hold all of it. Of course, everyone wanted this GoPro, including myself. I told myself that I didn't even need a GoPro, but any prize such as that is awesome. I also told the friends I was with that if I were to win the GoPro, I would overreact in an intentional and humorous way of jumping out of my seat, walking like a crab, shooting my hands into the air and shouting "Uh oh! Someone's got Bingo!"
So I played with my friends. I came close to winning several of the prizes that were up for grabs. However, then came the lightning round: the round to win the GoPro. Instead of the traditional horizontal, vertical, or diagonal, the placement of the chips needed to form a "W". As the round progressed, I was filling out the chips and I was coming close to making the W shape. My face was getting warm because I felt that I would win, but I also knew that there was a chance of me losing.
So, my last spot was open, and I still remember the letter-number: B9. It was called, and I reacted exactly as I said I would. I made the entire room laugh, and to this day, some people know me as "The Guy who won the GoPro".
Having a GoPro is absolutely amazing, it really is, but, shortly after I won, I realized something:
I didn't win the GoPro by pure luck or coincidence. I won it because it was God paying me back for the money I donated.
I thought about it and felt that it was too much of a coincidence. I donated $182, and three days later I won a GoPro, a 32 GB card, and a Wireless WiFi controller. I also did the math and looked up the prices of these individual items. And, if I am correct, the GoPro and its accessories come to $306. Again, if my math is right, that's about 60% more than what I donated (I feel like my math is terribly off, but just bear with me). Even without the math, it's obvious to know that I won prizes that cost way more than I gave. And I realized that night that me winning was indeed, God paying me back.
To this day, I have not yet taken it out of its box. I have no use for it, and I've been busy with school.
So that's my testimony. I want this article to first, glorify God. And second, I want it to teach you that God is indeed faithful. I'm not telling you that when you give or make sacrifices for God, that you should only do it expecting a reward from God, or as a "get rich quick" scheme. No. We should make sacrifices to and for God wholeheartedly, just as I did back in August. Yes, when you give for God, you should know that you will be paid in return, in whatever way that may be. But our first desire should be to honor please God, and He will be faithful and honor us.
"Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver". 2 Corinthians 9:7
I hope this article has spoken to you in some way. To God be the glory.
(oh, and here are the photos were taken of me winning the prize)
This article also dealt with the GoFundMe page for Venezuela. If you feel it in your heart that you want to check it out and possibly donate, then please click this link. Thank you.
