ep. 7 - Testimony Time! The Story of One Time God Provided For Our Needs | Faith As Big As A Mustard Seed?

I was stressed, burnt out, and watching our savings account go down month by month. The night before this testimony happened, I was basically falling apart trying to figure out how to keep our family afloat while staying home with my kids and building a business from scratch. And then the next morning — two envelopes showed up in the mail that I almost threw away.

This episode is a real, unfiltered testimony about God showing up as Jehovah Jireh — the God who provides — in a way I absolutely did not see coming. Plus we're going to talk about what Jesus actually meant when He talked about faith the size of a mustard seed, because I don't think we've been reading that right.

THE TESTIMONY

About seven to eight months ago I stopped working after the birth of our third baby in February. We had been living off our rainy season fund — which, if you don't have one, let this be your sign to start one. Three to six months of savings set aside for exactly these moments is not optional, y'all. It is a gift to your future self.

But here's the thing about a rainy season fund — every month you watch it go down, your heart rate goes up a little. And with three kids, homeschooling, and a business that still needs time to grow, I was feeling it. We had also taken a 40% pay cut when we moved, so the math wasn't exactly encouraging.

On a Wednesday night I sat with my husband, frustrated and stressed, trying to figure out if I needed to go back to work. We prayed about it. And I went to sleep still a mess.

The next morning my husband brings in the mail before heading to work. Two envelopes — no return address, just my name and our address. Suspicious enough that I almost threw them away.

Inside? Two checks.

They were labeled as a student loan refund . . . which made zero sense to me because I hadn't taken out any student loans recently. So I started making calls. Liberty University. The Department of Education. FAFSA. And that's when I found it . . . an application I had completely forgotten about from 2023.

The backstory: Back in 2013, I enrolled at a school that offered me a scholarship. Two weeks before final exams, they came back and said it was given to me in error and they needed the money back . . . which meant I owed the school more than I could afford and couldn't finish the semester without paying it. I packed up and drove home. It was honestly devastating.

When the student loan borrower's defense program opened up for people who felt they had been misled by their institution, I quietly submitted an application, not expecting much, but figured it was worth trying. My husband and I had already paid our loans down to zero following Dave Ramsey's principles, so this wasn't about avoiding debt. It was about what had genuinely happened to me.

I had forgotten about that application entirely.

When FAFSA confirmed that it had been approved, and that the money in those two envelopes was mine to keep, including the interest we had already paid, I got off the phone trembling.

God. You actually provided. The night I was falling apart, you were already working.

It wasn't millions of dollars. But it was exactly enough to carry us through to next year, which means I can now build this business steadily, sustainably, and without panic. In peace.

That's Jehovah Jireh.

WHAT THIS TAUGHT ME ABOUT FAITH

Now I want to talk about something I've been sitting with because I think we've been misreading a really familiar verse.

In Matthew 17, Jesus heals a demon-possessed boy after the disciples couldn't. When they ask Him why they failed, He says:

"You didn't have enough faith. I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible."
— Matthew 17:20 NLT

Growing up I always heard this as: just have a tiny little bit of faith and God will move. Like the smallness of the seed was the point.

But here's what I learned recently . . . and it kind of wrecked me in the best way.

A mustard seed is incredibly small. But when it gets planted, it becomes invasive. It takes over the entire area. Farmers actually dislike mustard plants because they crowd out everything else around them.

So when Jesus said faith like a mustard seed to an agriculturally minded audience of disciples who knew exactly what mustard plants did . . . He wasn't talking about the size of the seed. He was talking about what it grows into.

Faith that starts small but grows so invasively that it takes over everything ----> including the way you see your circumstances. It crowds out the fear. It crowds out the panic. It crowds out the evidence stacked against you. Because you're no longer walking by what you see. You're walking by faith.

And that right there is what I was not doing the Wednesday night before those checks showed up. I was walking by sight. Watching the account balance. Counting the months. Calculating the risk.

I'm not hard on myself for it . . . but I'm challenged. I want to be a woman who walks by faith that grows so wide it covers what my eyes would otherwise fixate on.

A WORD IF YOU'RE IN A HARD SEASON

I want to be honest with you: God does not always show up the way He showed up for us with those two envelopes. Sometimes we pray and we wait. Sometimes we wait and the answer is no. Sometimes the provision looks nothing like what we expected.

But here's what I know AND what Scripture confirms:

He is faithful even when we don't understand what He's doing. He is still God even when the answer isn't the one we wanted. He still deserves our wholehearted loyalty even when things are hard. I've watched people I love walk through situations I wouldn't wish on anyone, and the ones who had God walked through differently than the ones who didn't.

So whether He shows up with two unexpected checks or He asks you to keep trusting in the silence . . . He is Jehovah Jireh. He knows what you need. And He provides according to His will and His perfect timing.

Trust Him anyway.

SCRIPTURES REFERENCED

• Psalm 23:1 — "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want"

• Proverbs 3:5 — "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not depend on your own understanding"

• Proverbs 22:7 — the borrower is servant to the lender (referenced but not quoted directly)

• Matthew 17:14-20 NLT — the demon-possessed boy; faith like a mustard seed

• 2 Corinthians 5:7 — walk by faith and not by sight (referenced)

PRACTICAL TAKEAWAY

If you don't have a rainy season fund ----> make that a priority. Three to six months of living expenses set aside so that when life happens, you have space to breathe, pray, and make clear-headed decisions instead of panic-driven ones. It is one of the most practical ways to steward what God has given you.

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• Dave Ramsey — debt payoff principles and emergency fund strategy

• Liberty University — current school Miki is attending

LET'S KEEP THE CONVERSATION GOING

Has God ever provided for you in a way you didn't see coming? I would love to hear your testimony . . . drop it in the comments or send it to me at mcgarrypodcasts@gmail.com. Your story might be exactly what someone else needs to hear right now. 🤍

And if this episode encouraged you, please share it with someone who's in a hard season and needs the reminder that God is still Jehovah Jireh.

This is Miki with in case i forget — theology and testimony for busy wives and moms. I'll catch you at the next one.

🌐 theologyandtestimony.com

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