Finding Faith: How God Supports Us in Our Times of Need

My testimony is not a major life changing story, or from once being bad then turning good, but simply of my faith seeing me through a very difficult period in my life.

I have been running my company for over 40 years and during that time, as with most business owners, I have faced my fair share of challenges. However, nothing could have prepared me for the 2020 lockdown and for losing my mother, who put up a great fight, but sadly lost her battle with ovarian cancer in April of the same year.

During the COVID lockdown, when businesses had to furlough, or lay-off their employees and many were left with no option but to close their doors for the final time, I felt totally alone, with all my staff looking to me daily, for answers to impossible questions and me not having anyone to turn to for help, or advice.

Not having my mum, my best friend and confidant to share with as I normally did, I found myself getting down on my knees almost nightly and praying to the Lord for strength and guidance.

Unlike many office based businesses that could gear up for remote home working, being a hardware manufacturer, we could not and so had to continue going into the factory every day.

At that time our biggest customers were deeply integrated to airports and with the heavy restriction on travel, as you can imagine, orders had dried up and work was at an all time low.

As time went on, every day my employees questioned the security of their jobs and each night I sought guidance from the Lord. There were no direct answers in the form of a heavenly voice, but there was an overwhelming feeling of serenity and confidence that washed over me, allowing me to face each day with renewed courage and strength.

I felt the confidence to make promises to my employees, assuring them that no one would loose their jobs and that they could reassure their families. I felt confident enough to burn through more than half a million pounds of company and then personal funds keeping the doors open and all my staff on full pay. In those moments I had total faith in the Lord, that he was guiding my thoughts and helping me to make the correct decisions. It was a long, lonely and scary journey, but after praying each night, I was able to rest peacefully with serene thoughts of everything being okay.

Well, I'm pleased to attest to the Lord answering my prayers, in that my faith helped me to endure that torrid time. It was thereafter that I sought to get closer to the Lord and to find a place where I could worship and give thanks for his helping hand and guidance during my time of greatest need.

Now, I pray regularly to the Lord again, that as he did with me, he might help and guide the thoughts of those in positions of influence, to make the right, considerate and selfless decisions, to reduce the suffering in the world, especially for all those innocent souls who suffer greatly through no fault of their own.