The End of Your Rope
Leading a Christ-centered life and having a Christ-centered home are great Biblical aspirations, but life and circumstances sometimes seem to get in the way. Both of my adult sons have been planning a mission trip to Ecuador. Micah was scheduled to leave the country on July 13 and lead the team. Daniel would follow one week later, and he and Micah would work together leading the remaining two weeks. Micah works as a political consultant in Texas and has been back and forth between Kentucky and Texas recently. Search was made for his all-important passport, and, after some days of concern, it was found and sent to Texas. As departure date approached, the package did not arrive in Texas. A check on the USPS tracking number showed it was undeliverable. With departure day now a few days away, signs of panic were creeping in.
Months of preparation and money spent on tickets and accommodations were now on the line. From our perspective, there was one hope: that the Postal Service would return the package to us so that it could be overnighted to Micah. But undeliverable letters often take a week or weeks to get back to the sender. Things were not looking good.
We stopped to pray and also rehearsed the typical “coulda, woulda, shoulda”. We prayed hoping that our God, by His providence, would do the unusual and unlikely. But what if He did not? What if Micah, the leader of the team, had to stay behind? What if all the prayers, preparation, and money had led to this?
We often feel that God must do certain things or act in a certain way. We take part of the Scriptures regarding prayer, and build our case for the desired outcome. What we want is right and good and must be the will of God, right? But the truth is that God is not obligated to us, and our limited perspective is not able to give us the whole picture. We are dust and He is sovereign. Case closed.
We spent our days doing our jobs, praying, and waiting on God, then submitting to His will, whatever that would be.
On Wednesday evening, Daniel was visiting with some friends and rehearsing the situation with them. One friend said: “Why don’t you have someone check with the post office that received it in Texas to see if they still have it.” DUH!!! Daniel texted Micah, WHO WAS PREPARING TO FLY TO ECUADOR. Micah called His friend and boss, asking him to check with the local post office the next morning. Thursday morning, Micah flew to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida where he and the team would gather to leave for Ecuador on Saturday. When Micah’s friend went to the post office, the package was there waiting to be picked up. He was able to get it and overnight it to Ft. Lauderdale. On Friday morning, Micah had his passport in His hand.
As I write this blog, Micah and the team are in Ecuador, having arrived just hours ago. We give thanks to our God Who does all things well and Whose “mercies endure forever”. But make no mistake. Our God is faithful, NO MATTER WHAT. He always does all things well. This we learn as we seek to live a Christ-centered life.
Charles Cavanaugh
