I woke up in the morning with a list of things to down swirling in my head before my feet had touched the ground. Racing out the door with a greasy head of hair, work out clothes on and no breakfast, I yelled to my children, “I have to run down the hill! Will be back in a jiff!”
Six and half hours later, I arrived back home in the gas station owner’s car with defrosted groceries and a smile on my face!!
I had so many things to do! You see, I had to order so many things that day for our upcoming Midwest Convention by noon. I had children to pick up from classes and ones at home to school. I was making a meal for a friend who had just had a baby. I wanted to work out. I had cleaning duties to attend to at my kid’s school. Bruce, my stand-by hero in situations like this, was on a plane to New York. So the last thing I needed was car trouble!
What normally would be considered a complete inconvenience and TROUBLE in my book turned out to be a complete blessing!
As my battery and alternator died that dreaded morning, I had a choice to make! Normally, I would sigh and panic over all that needed to be done that I could not do. Luckily, before I left the house that morning, I had been in God’s word and for this moment, I made a decision to look at this inconvenience with an eternal perspective. I whispered a silent prayer as I jumped in the tow truck. “Okay, God, what are you up to.? I am here willing and ready!”
As I began a conversation with Johnny, my tow truck driver, I began to see His plan unfolding. What started off with a simple question: “What are you doing this weekend for Easter?” Led to a dialogue about Johnny’s whole life. He was a gang member growing up who barely made it out alive. He hadn’t been in church since he was 17 because “he had messed up so much”. His wife, who now has MS, is the center of his world and he is too busy now to step foot in church. As we talked through how much God loves him and his family, he began to soften. We talked about who he is in God’s eyes and how he can do nothing to be outside of God’s love for him. He admitted to wanting friends and needing help with his wife. What better place than in the company of saints. I encouraged him to give God another chance. We talked about dying, about living and about God’s plan. I invited him to church this Easter and even though he is working, I am going to pray for Johnny because I believe God is calling him. Would you join me in this prayer?
For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
2 Cor. 4:17-18
Sometimes, the inconveniences of life, are so much more . . .
I would not have been able to engage in “the unseen” of this life and focus on the eternal, if my car had not broken down! I would not have met Johnny!
So the next time I have a trial . . . or an inconvenience . . . I am going to remember to look around and ask God what He has in store for my day. That way I won’t miss the next Johnny in my life. I know God will redeem the time and bring “heroes” to help me (like friends who covered for me and drove me around). Sure, still much didn’t get done that day, but surprisingly a lot did. None of it seemed to matter in the light of eternity!
Tell me about a time when God was there in the midst of your troubles. When have you focused on the “unseen”?
