STANDING FIRM
Honesty is Their Policy
By Debbie Harper
The 700 Club
Curt
and Jan Rodrigue are living the good life. They have three wonderful
children and live on this beautiful 80-acre ranch.
"God has just been so faithful," says Jan. "He has done more than
we could have imagined."
Curt worked for IBM for more than 10 years, but felt God was leading
him elsewhere, so he took a job with a company that doubled his pay.
Things seemed great at first
until they wanted him to lie to
the customers.
"I felt like I was misrepresenting God because I had spoken to these
people about the Lord," says Curt. "They knew where I stood, my business
practices, my ethics. I had given my salvation testimony to most of
these people, and for me all of a sudden to misrepresent and cover
up, there was no way."
Curt and Jan knew that God would not be pleased with dishonesty,
so they agreed he should quit his job.
"I just knew that we couldnt stay in that situation. We couldnt
represent the Lord and lie to customers, people we see at the grocery
store, with a smile on our faces. There was just no way," Jan explains.
The Rodrigues had watched The 700 Club for years. They also
had supported Operation Blessing and the ministry of CBN. But during
this time, they had very little income and had to live on faith. They
prayed and trusted God to provide for them. They continued to tithe
to their church and give to CBN.
"I just saw how God provided so miraculously for us, immediately,
really above and beyond what we could ask or think," says Jan.
Curt felt that God was prompting him to start his own business.
"The first job I had was cutting safes, and Jan asked me, 'Can you
cut a safe?' I said, 'The Holy Spirit can show me how.' So I started
cutting safes--that was the beginning--in a Ford escort, with the
back seat pulled out to put the parts in, with no heat and no air,
and $27 dollars in the bank. But God has just blessed ever since,"
he says.
"It
has been totally walking in faith and believing God at His word,
because there have been many times we would look at the checkbook
and its just not there, and theres a stack of bills,
and the checkbook says zero or minus," Jan says. "But through
the years, we have just learned Gods promises and had to
stand on them and say, 'God, Your word says that if we put You
first, everything else will fall into place. Your word says that
if we tithe and offer, that You are faithful, that You say test
me at this.'"
The business has continued to prosper beyond what they could have
imagined, but they realize that all their resources are Gods.
"We try to hold things with an open hand," says Jan. "God can put
things in there or He can take them out whenever He gets ready."
The Rodrigues are amazed at how God has been faithful to them as
they have been obedient to Him. They have continued to increase their
giving over the years and are now CBN founders. They say they want
to sow their seed in fertile soil.
"I believe He says He will provide us with seed and increase it as
we are faithful," says Jan.
Adds Curt, "I dont think that Jan and I will be able to measure
how much weve been blessed."
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