God Works in Mysterious Ways

After the events of yesterday morning, by the end of the day, Josh and I both were ready to go to church. We needed a good message and the fellowship of other believers to lift our spirits a bit, or so we thought. We got all ready for church, strapped Noah in his carseat and headed out. But when we came to the on-ramp to get on the highway, it was completely backed up. We have never seen it backed up like that! We could only assume there was an accident on the bridge or something like that, and it didn't look like it was clearing up anytime soon. Having left a few minutes late anyway, combined with the obvious traffic delay, it was clear we weren't going to make it to church anywhere close to on-time if at all.

So we went home! Josh was frustrated, saying "Here I am, trying to go to church and do the right thing, and I can't even do that!" I was thinking similar thoughts about how we'd just spent time getting ready and getting out the door to have wasted it. We knew we would listen to a message online and spend some time praying on our own, but we were definitely deflated somewhat. Once home, Noah began fussing and crying so we took him for a walk to calm him down, and when we got back from that it was clear he was ready for bed, so I nursed him and put him down. Finally we were able to sit down and choose a message online!

Josh picked one by our former pastor in Greenville, Pastor Mark Minnick, titled "God's Relationship to Us". Ok, fine. Sounds good, let's listen!

Knocked. Our. Socks. Off! It was EXACTLY what we needed to hear. It convicted both of us, and all I could think was that God knew we would hit that traffic and be forced to turn around. He knew we'd listen to a message online, and He knew which one we'd pick. I even would like to think he guided Josh to pick that particular one. It is unbelievable how closely-fitted to our situation that message was! (You can find it on sermonaudio.com under Mark Minnick if you would like to hear it.) The text was from Hebrews 13, the verses about not letting your heart be covetous because we know that God has promised never to leave us or forsake us. It was so powerful! We were able to spend time afterward in prayer together, and we both came away lighter and refreshed.

I'm so thankful to God for that traffic jam! He does work in mysterious ways. :)

Comments

Carrie said…
I thought I missed you at church last nght -but wasn't completely sure b/c the teens were getting out late. So sorry to hear about the bank and your money..although I'm not sure how to pray for the situation...I will pray.
May 1, 2008 at 7:14 AM
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