TRUSTING GOD WHEN THINGS LOOK BAD
This morning, the missionary serving as a guest preacher at our church was regaling us with stories on the mission field, of times when things looked bad and God’s people prayed and He answered. He shared about people getting through customs, of Christian materials smuggled into closed countries, and of lost passports being found. The point he was making was that when things look bad, if we will just trust God and pray, He will come through.
It reminded me of an incident in my life, which while relatively insignificant in the grand scheme of things, still taught me a lesson about God’s faithfulness. Six years ago, Amy and I were at the airport in San Francisco, waiting to return to Philadelphia after spending a week with my parents. Though we had had a decent time in California, Amy was eager to get home. Only I had left my driver’s license at my parents’ house, and the guy at the ticket counter wouldn’t let me through.
As I calculated whether or not there was enough time for me to call my parents and have them bring me my driver’s license (there wasn’t), Amy started to get upset. She didn’t want to miss the flight, but nor did she want to fly out without me. I lost my cool very quickly. In a frenzied state, I checked my carry-on for the third time to no avail. For a crazed moment, I even thought I had misplaced our plane tickets. I was a wreck.
Amy calmed down and said, “Let’s pray.” I was sane enough to know that that was the right thing to do, but still so panicky that my heart wasn’t into it. I was thinking more about how stupid I looked for having misplaced my driver’s license than I was about entreating God for help. Amy proceeded anyway. “God, I’ve seen you come through before when we’ve messed up. We need your help again. Do it, for Your Name’s sake.”
No sooner had she said “Amen” when (as if on cue) a middle-aged man came up to us and called out my name. I looked at him quizzically. He introduced himself as the father of one of my old high school basketball teammates. I’d never met him before, but he remembered me from the many games he had attended. “Can I help you with something?”
Can you ever! I explained my predicament, and he walked us to the ticket counter and said he’s see what he could do. Turns out he was a supervisor, and what he could do is not only get us on the plane but bump us up to first class! After we got over the initial shock of being this close to not making it back home, we were able to thoroughly enjoy our first experience with first class: quality food, excellent service, and our choice of entertainment.
Now, in the grand scheme of things, this is nothing. God didn’t save anyone through this experience; in fact, it was a fairly selfish and private blessing. While God is for us and comes early and often to our rescue, it is not because we are the center of His world but because He is the center of ours. Nevertheless, I learned something valuable that day. I learned that even and especially when we have messed up, when we are helpless to get ourselves out of a predicament, when we don’t know anyone around us who can come to our rescue, God can and does still work. He knows us by name, comes to our rescue, and showers us with an abundance we cannot fathom. He is trustworthy, even and especially when things look bad.
This morning, the missionary serving as a guest preacher at our church was regaling us with stories on the mission field, of times when things looked bad and God’s people prayed and He answered. He shared about people getting through customs, of Christian materials smuggled into closed countries, and of lost passports being found. The point he was making was that when things look bad, if we will just trust God and pray, He will come through.
It reminded me of an incident in my life, which while relatively insignificant in the grand scheme of things, still taught me a lesson about God’s faithfulness. Six years ago, Amy and I were at the airport in San Francisco, waiting to return to Philadelphia after spending a week with my parents. Though we had had a decent time in California, Amy was eager to get home. Only I had left my driver’s license at my parents’ house, and the guy at the ticket counter wouldn’t let me through.
As I calculated whether or not there was enough time for me to call my parents and have them bring me my driver’s license (there wasn’t), Amy started to get upset. She didn’t want to miss the flight, but nor did she want to fly out without me. I lost my cool very quickly. In a frenzied state, I checked my carry-on for the third time to no avail. For a crazed moment, I even thought I had misplaced our plane tickets. I was a wreck.
Amy calmed down and said, “Let’s pray.” I was sane enough to know that that was the right thing to do, but still so panicky that my heart wasn’t into it. I was thinking more about how stupid I looked for having misplaced my driver’s license than I was about entreating God for help. Amy proceeded anyway. “God, I’ve seen you come through before when we’ve messed up. We need your help again. Do it, for Your Name’s sake.”
No sooner had she said “Amen” when (as if on cue) a middle-aged man came up to us and called out my name. I looked at him quizzically. He introduced himself as the father of one of my old high school basketball teammates. I’d never met him before, but he remembered me from the many games he had attended. “Can I help you with something?”
Can you ever! I explained my predicament, and he walked us to the ticket counter and said he’s see what he could do. Turns out he was a supervisor, and what he could do is not only get us on the plane but bump us up to first class! After we got over the initial shock of being this close to not making it back home, we were able to thoroughly enjoy our first experience with first class: quality food, excellent service, and our choice of entertainment.
Now, in the grand scheme of things, this is nothing. God didn’t save anyone through this experience; in fact, it was a fairly selfish and private blessing. While God is for us and comes early and often to our rescue, it is not because we are the center of His world but because He is the center of ours. Nevertheless, I learned something valuable that day. I learned that even and especially when we have messed up, when we are helpless to get ourselves out of a predicament, when we don’t know anyone around us who can come to our rescue, God can and does still work. He knows us by name, comes to our rescue, and showers us with an abundance we cannot fathom. He is trustworthy, even and especially when things look bad.
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