Today’s Miracle Monday is Brother Phillip Benyola’s testimony of how God provided work for him in a time of need.

I was living and working in Indianapolis in April 2005, and I was asked to travel to Missouri for business on a Tuesday. I was concerned about this trip because I was also scheduled to leave for a missionary trip to Dominica on Saturday morning, just a few days later. I expected to drive back from my business trip and arrive home late Wednesday night. I knew it would be stressful, but I also knew there was plenty of time to do both; however, the meetings did not go as planned at the customer site, and they needed me to stay longer than planned to make some changes to the product we were providing. For obvious reasons, this caused me some alarm, but I knew that even if I didn’t get home until Friday, I could still make the missionary trip without a problem.

But on Friday, things went from bad to worse. The customer asked me to stay through the weekend to make the necessary changes. Of course, I was unable to do that unless I forfeited my obligation to the missionary trip, which involved another brother traveling with me. As Friday evening rolled around, I was panicking. I told the client that I could not stay over the weekend, that I had another commitment and had to leave. Of course, I was a wreck, knowing the consequences that I would face for making that decision. I arrived home after midnight and frantically packed for my 6 a.m. flight.

I was nervous and exhausted and forgot my passport, which I had to pay over $300 to replace at the last minute. The week in Dominica was a blur to me because I was so concerned about what I would face when I returned home to work.

As predicted, I was called into a conference room with HR on the following Monday morning, where they explained how upset the customer was and how disappointed they were that I did not stay as requested. Then, they asked me what I would do if I found myself in that situation again in the future, and after careful consideration, I explained that although I loved my job and wanted to be the best employee I could be, I was also very devoted to my church, and I made a commitment there that I could not break. I had requested the time off several months in advance; therefore, I said I would do the same thing. At that, they looked at me and told me that they no longer had a place for me in their organization.

Needless to say, I was quite distraught at losing my job and quite confused as to how God would allow this to happen to me when I was trying to do His will and work for His church. I was angry. I decided to take a few days off and visit the beach in Florida and and try to calm down. While I was there, I passed a library and on a whim, thought I would stop in and see if there were any jobs advertised there. I saw an ad on the bulletin board, called about it, and got straight through to the VP of HR.

As it happened, I called in the middle of a birthday party, but they invited me in for an interview anyway. I explained that I was not prepared for that, I did not have the right clothes, etc. She told me not to worry about that, just come in. I immediately drove to the corporate office, interrupted the birthday party, had the interview, and was hired on the spot in a director role, with an increase in salary and a complete relocation package. At the same time, I was offered an equivalent job in Indiana. Now I had to choose one!

Did God want me to stay in Indiana or move back to Florida? This was a different kind of dilemma. I prayed and prayed and did not feel that I was getting an answer, so I then bargained with God. I told Him if someone — anyone — from Florida called me on Sunday morning as I was preparing for church, then that would be the sign to accept the Florida position.

Of course, at around 9 a.m. the phone rang! It was a sister from Florida who said she felt this very strong urgency to call me that morning, thinking something was very wrong. Instead, something was very right! That is how I wound up back in Florida.

It took a major upset in my life to make me realize that when we put Him first, He will take care of us. We just have to trust Him. Sometimes we have to be refined like gold in order for the Potter to mold us, which includes spending some time in the fire. God is good. All the time. All the time. God is good.

This article has undergone ministry review and approval.