I have a story to tell. As most of my friends and family know, I enjoy hiking and backpacking. I haven’t done a lot of backpacking but what I have done I have Enjoyed. My dad and I often go on Camping trips And The gear that we use is mostly things that my dad has slowly gathered over time. It wasn’t until I went on a serious backpacking trip with a group who often does it that I realized how much my backpack lacked. I noticed everyone’s really nice extended day backpacks With fancy names and pockets. The more I spoke with people and did research on my own about packs, the more I realized that it is important to have a good backpack.
I struggled with the idea of paying $300 for a good backpack. So I prayed and asked the God who has all resources available to him to provide me with one at a reasonable price that would fit my body. A lot of people will tell you that God doesn’t answer your selfish prayers. There is a scripture that says “delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalms 37:4. I found a lot of freedom in that scripture. God is the desire of my heart, and so is backpacking! He created me to love nature and things outdoors and socializing with people who love the same things that I do.
Every time I went on a trip and saw someone with a really nice pack or flipped through my backpacker magazine, I became envious. I would still my mind and lift up a prayer to the God who provides all things for me. After several months went by I found one on craigslist that looked nice and good for me, but the person selling was asking more than I wanted to pay, $100. About a week went by and I kept looking at the same backpack. Finally I texted the girl selling the pack and asked if she still had it. She responded that she had sold the pack about a week before. 
bummer! Then she tells me she sold it for cheap to a resale shop in Benton, my hometown. So that day on my lunch break I go see if it is still there. Wouldn’t you know that it WAS still there and they were asking $110. (I was hoping they didn’t know what they had!! Not a chance.)
I had read the reviews on this backpack and it was excellent, it fit and I even liked the color. God provided beyond even what I am telling you here, financially. This was an answer to my prayers. I couldn’t stop smiling as I left the resale shop that day.
But I was doubly blessed. There was a very nice surprise that came along with it. The girl who had originally had the backpack for sale on Craigslist and I began texting and have become fast friends.
My God is so much bigger than the box we put Him in! I want to shout it from the mountain tops! God sees you where you are, He DOES care and your prayers DO matter.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20, 21 NIV)
They Call Me Brave 