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The Successful Find
by L. Wang, with Jack Neufeld
God, where the heck are you?! I was experiencing one of the darkest moments of despair in my life when my son came home telling me he lost his glasses. I was ashamed because I knew as a jobless father of six children, I could not afford to replace my son’s glasses. “God, how could you let me down?” I cried out as I buried my tear stained face in my winter gloves and searched in the snow for the missing glasses.
Little did I know at the time, this walk in the snow taught me the key to success that I would hold on to for the rest of my life.
My goal achieved
Previously, my family and I were doing very well financially. Money was plentiful because of my successful career in building and development. But in the midst of my accomplishments, I realized that money and success didn’t positively correlate. I wanted something else but didn’t know what it was.
That was when my wife Alvina came to believe in Jesus. I began to see that Christianity wasn’t as crazy as I thought. I’ll admit, although I believed in God at 19, he wasn’t on the throne of my life; I didn’t put God in the driver’s seat or ask him for guidance. Actually, he was pretty much non-existent. When I left him out of my life, I began to think Christians were all just crazy, not very normal. But I knew my wife was normal and the joy she had was just different from what I ever knew myself. Seeing my wife’s joy, I knew this God was the only one that could give me great joy and fill that emptiness I felt.
So I rededicated my life to God, believing that I need Jesus and that he is the Son of God who died on the cross for my sins. I began my relationship with God and knew that this was the something else I always wanted.
A new goal
After I yielded control of my life to Christ, I was strongly compelled to quit my job and go back to school. It was as if this new taste of life with God made me desire to taste even more and pursue other dreams I had. This was very difficult given my family obligations but I knew this was what I wanted to do, and I had to trust in God, especially for my future.
Eventually, because of this transition, our family ran out of money. I found it to be extremely difficult and challenging going from a successful job to not having an income. It caused me to feel inadequate as a husband and father, knowing I was unable to provide for my beautiful wife and six kids. But I realized I had to have faith in God and trust him to provide for every need.
The day my son came home without his glasses, I definitely learned that God keeps his promises to provide for us. It was a pivotal moment in my journey. As I walked through the snow in search of the glasses, I cried out to God in despair and frustration. I prayed and wept and prayed and wept.
Wanting to give up
Where are you God?! You told me to trust in you for my future and I have. Now I can’t even afford new glasses for my son! As I yelled this out to God in my thoughts, he reminded me of one of his promises in the Bible, Matthew 6:33: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” I remembered that Jesus gives us life to its fullest and we just need to obey, trust and seek him first. God has been taking care of me since I was born, what was I afraid of? It was then and there that I suddenly felt a force pull my foot to an area in the snow. I dug into the snow and there they were—the silver-rimmed glasses!
My son told me later that he never walked there that day. Perhaps finding glasses may seem simple, but it was this small finding that God used to teach me the principle I follow daily. As long as God is on the throne of my life, I need not worry. He fulfills his promises. His plan is better than mine will ever be, I just have to choose to obey and seek him first.
His plan or mine
I graduated from school and returned to construction, not knowing what God’s plans held but willing to just have faith that his plans are better than mine. I saw incredible success begin to come my way. Through college and training in apprenticeship areas, I had gained many skills in construction and building development and it was a natural transition for me.
In the years that followed I became president of a successful commercial construction company and was building many large buildings, bridges and high-rises.
I later established the Jack Neufeld Family Charitable Foundation and have been helping low income families in third world countries ever since. God has blessed me with a new company called WORX and a beautiful family that encourages me everyday. I’ve learned that God takes care of all my needs, and perhaps in the moment I don’t see it, but in every obstacle, challenge or success, God is always there. I just need to trust.
I have discovered that success truly is in touching people’s lives and knowing Christ. The peace I found in knowing that God cares about every detail of my life is something that you too can know in your journey towards peace and success.
You can receive Christ right now by faith through prayer. Praying is simply talking to God. God knows your heart and is not so concerned with your words as He is with the attitude of your heart. Here’s a suggested prayer:
Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life to you and ask you to come in as my Savior and Lord. Take control of my life. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of person you want me to be.
~Jack Neufeld is founder of the Jack Neufeld Family Charitable Foundation and the chairman of Worx Environmental Products Inc., a corporation established in 1993. He is involved with various organizations and corporations such as The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Samaritan’s Purse Canada, Alliance University College, Avanti Polymers Ltd., and Global Prayer Calgary. He currently lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with his lovely wife Alvina and Ben, the Golden Retriever.
~L. Wang recently graduated from the University of Alberta with a B.A. in English and is an aspiring journalist who hopes to go overseas to report international news one day. As a big fan of hockey, sleep and rare steak, this writer thinks there’s no such thing as too much of the three.