There have been times in my life when I have had to question where I am with God. Am I still walking in God’s will for my life?
And there have been times when I have felt really disappointed about something that has happened, and then suddenly, God has turned the situation around.
Such a situation happened a few years ago.
I was embarking on a new calling in my life and also heading overseas for a four week mission trip to China and India.
Before I left for overseas, I felt I should visit some dear friends in Whanganui to get their thoughts on the new calling called ‘The Daily Encourager’.
When I arrived in Whanganui I found out my friend Marian had been praying for this and she gave me many words of wisdom and encouragement.
It was going to be hard to remember all of her words, and because I wanted to hold onto them, I asked her if she would mind emailing them to me.
Being in her mid-70’s, she said that she would much rather write these out in a letter to me.
A week later, three days before I was due to fly to China and India, a letter arrived from Marian. It was hand written beautifully on parchment paper, full of wise council and many encouraging words.
These were words that I would be able to re-read many times and they would guide and encourage me on my journey.
I was so excited that I phoned a mutual friend and shared the letter over dinner with her that night.
The following morning I went off to work. I had this vague recollection of having put the letter in my briefcase. At work, I searched in my briefcase for the letter but could not find it.
When I got home that night, I searched around my house and still couldn’t find the letter. I remembered that I’d given it to my friend to read over dinner so I phoned her to see if she had it, but no luck there.
I felt I should let Marian know how precious the letter was to me, so the next day I phoned her to thank her for the letter and confessed that I’d lost it.
I was hoping that Marian might be able to re-create the letter and send me another copy, but that didn’t come up in conversation. Disappointed, I felt that the enemy had snatched the letter from me.
All I could do was cry out to God for the letter to be found. As I flew out of the country that night I left the letter in God’s hands .
The trip to China and India was very rewarding and I had completely forgotten about the letter by the time I returned to Wellington four weeks later.
At home, there was the usual pile of mail to be opened and I noticed a letter from Marian in Whanganui.
My first thought was, “Great, Marian’s written me another copy of the letter”.
But, when I opened the envelope, I found her original letter inside with two notes.
The first note was from Marian:
Dear Wayne
This arrived in the mail today. Praise God for Denise, whoever she is, God bless her!
Marian
And the second note was from Denise:
I found this letter on the path in central Wellington. Someone must have dropped it, so I am returning it to you in case it is important.
Cheers,
Denise
I find it pretty amazing that the letter had been blowing around the streets of Wellington and someone was mindful enough to pick it up and send it back to Marian in Whanganui.
Marian received it more than two weeks after I lost it and friends have told me that it was raining in Wellington during that period. The fact that the letter arrived back in my hands in perfect condition is a miracle in itself.
Not wanting to push my luck, I have carefully filed the letter away and have taken a scanned copy to make sure it is preserved.
I know that, in the future, I’ll refer to this letter many times and it will encourage me on my journey.
This incident has taught me that God has his hand over every aspect of our lives.
He protects both what is important to him and what is important to us.
Matthew 6:25-26
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?