"God works in mysterious ways!" Let me say that again, "God works in
mysterious ways!" He asks us to
believe that His ways are best, that He cares for all of us, that He wants us
to be obedient, that He hears and answers our prayers. Since he sent
His son to Earth to take on the form of a human, He knows firsthand, without any
doubt, how much of a blockhead His human creations can be on a daily
basis. He uses the foolish to confound
the wise (1 Corinthians 1:27). If I am
not His number one example for this, I am confident of being in the top 10
somewhere. Allow me to explain:
Calendar pages continue to flip. Months turn to years. The length of time
between when I first arrived, drew my first breath and enjoyed my first meal
and the current date to becomes larger. As
that number grows one unsavory trait I have developed is that I am very
impatient with certain things. Most of
those things deal directly with what happens when I assume a position buckled
safely behind the steering wheel of my car or truck. Which vehicle I am driving does not seem to have
any influence over how I feel or what happens.
It's when I find myself in that particular position that God brings to
me "Teachable Moments". These
are those times that God allows things to happen not as I would like them to go or as I think the law
of nature should have them going. For
example, it's 2 a.m. and I am unable to pull out from a traffic control device
because of the number of evenly spaced autos driving towards me. How about just as I pull out into the passing
lane on the highway in order to avoid as slow moving tractor-trailer, a slower
moving tractor trailer in front of the one I am attempting to pass enters the
passing lane in front of me. Or the coup de grace, I have cruise control set
while on the interstate and as I approach a slower moving vehicle I am
obstructed from entering the passing lane because someone is riding on my left
rear bumper doing the exact same speed as me, while texting. Lord have mercy.
So, one day last week Ann and I come rushing home from
running errands in order that I can eat the noon meal change clothes and have
her drop me off at work. It was at this
very time that God created one of His "Teachable Moments" in my life. Coming down our street to park in front of
our house, the car in front of me, who by the way cut me off while turning onto
my street, pulls in and parks in the last remaining parking spot in front of my
house. As aggravating as that was, it
was not a life ender. I quickly realize
that I am not going to be defeated because all I have to do is pass my house
make a U-turn and park on the opposite side of the street. Thus my auto will be
facing in the direction that I eventually need to go and my frustration level stays in check. But
nooooooo! As I make the U-turn and oil
truck comes down the street to make a delivery.
Of course! I should have known! We are now face to face with no place to
go. The friendly driver leans towards
his windshield and politely points to the house he is stopping to service. This is going nowhere fast. My frustration is rising. The clock is
ticking. I back up, make a K-turn and head out the end of my street in order to
go up the alley behind my house.
As I make a right hand turn to go up the alley, there in the
middle of the alley is a broken down, beat up, road beaten, rust red pick-up
truck being circled by two dirty, broken down, down on their luck men. While muttering to myself that I can't
believe this is happening, I have come to expect nothing less. I squeeze my car between said bucket of bolts
and a yet-to-be-foliaged lilac bush. I
hope deep down inside that I was invisible to these men as the hour at which I
need to be at work is fast approaching. Teaching Moment!
"Excuse me Sir. Excuse me Sir!" This is what I was greeted with as I exited
my vehicle and attempt to make a break for it.
"Excuse me Sir. Do you have any gas that I can buy from
you?" As I begin to reply a voice
inside my heart says to help these men on this day, at this time.
"No, I am sorry I do not have any gas to sell or to
give, but I do have some empty cans", I answer.
The weariest of the two men said, "I am out of gas and
only have eight dollars. Can I borrow
one of your cans?"
As a soothing peace settled over me I said that would not be
necessary. I agreed to take his money
and my cans and go get him the gas he so desperately needs. The clock was still ticking and the time was
getting shorter as I got my can out of the shed and headed to the petrol
station.
The looks on their faces when I returned was worth all the aggravation,
lateness and any other price I would be paying for doing this deed. As two U. S. gallons of refined oil, turned
to gasoline, was poured from my red plastic container down the gullet of the
rusty red pick-up, my new found friend explained that I was a Godsend, that no
one else stopped to help, that no one to who's door he had visited would help and
that many just passed him by. Little did
he know that was my intent until God showed me he had other plans and needed to teach me something. My friend said he was going to a job where he
could finally make some money salvaging metal from a building that was being
gutted. If I hadn't helped his final option was to call his
wife and take her tenuously away from her job to get him gas. This would not be a good thing. He was afraid that if he did not get to the
job site he would lose out thus hurting his chances to turn trash into cash. He
told me that he did not know how he could repay me for the act of
kindness. I explained to him as I have
many others that all I ask is that in the future when he sees someone in
trouble that he help them as he can with no expectations of reward. We shook hands and as I returned to the house
to head to work, without eating a lunch I probably did not need anyway, I heard
him thank me once again, bring the engine of the rust red pick-up to life and
drive up the alley and out of site.
I felt good that things happened the way they did. I ate something while being chauffeured to
work. Once there I was not late as I punched in at the exact starting time. All seemed right. Little did I know but
another Teaching Moment was yet to come.
Four evenings latter as I sat in my man cave the door bell
rang. I heard Micah answer the door and
speak to someone for a short time. The
door closed and Micah came into the room, handing me a roughly folded piece of
paper. He said the man I helped on
Monday had stopped. He wanted me to have
this referring to the folded paper. I unfolded it to find a hand written note and a five-dollar bill. The note written on the inside of a used UGI
billing envelope read:
DeAr
SiR. I AM Not The BEST cHRiSTiAN iN The world ANd I Still Have my problems. See
we ARE Not Born peRfect. IN A Nice NeighboRhood such AS YouRs, No oNe offeRd
help. out of 50 people. I doN't Have much BecAuse people Have stolen EveRy
thing I Had. I AppREciAte the GAS that day.
Here is soMething that is Not Much. But my pRayeRs for you ANd YouR
fAmily will Be multiplyed in Gods Kingdom. thank You.
As I read, then reread these words so crudely written but
yet so much from a man's heart, I was filled with many emotions. First I was humbled and ashamed because of
the very thoughts I had had that morning leading up to this encounter with
God. Second God reminded me once again
that it is more important to have a good name than great riches. Next God
showed me that He is found everywhere, even dressed as two dirty, broken down,
down on their luck men. Finally was the
reminder that peace, true peace the eye-of-the-storm type peace, is only found
in the love of and obedience to the Creator and Savior of the World.
Thank you Lord for working in mysterious ways. Thank you
Lord for the humbling lesson, may it help me grow. May I spread it and it's fruits to others both
on the inside and the outside of you kingdom.
-DD
