God's Appointment

Yesterday I began my new "job," I'm actually a volunteer for a month and we shall see what happens after that, and I was supposed to meet Pastor McNeil at the church at 12pm. Everything was starting off to great day. My car was packed as I hopped in a half an hour before I needed to leave. I had planned to make a slight detour to say good-bye to a friend and then be on my way. I started up the car and slowly took m... the tires were spinning. My car was sitting on a patch of ice. I dug out in front of the tires, I dug out behind the tires, I put salt down, I pushed and pushed, and still the tires spun. No matter what I tried I could not make the car budge. Much prayer was going into this as the minutes ticked away.

As I was praying I was reminded of  Elijah and Mt. Carmel. As Elijah was praying for rain it didn't come the first time nor the second but it took seven times before he saw any evidence that there was going to be rain. By the time Elijah prayed the seventh time he was completely emptied of self. Was this one of those times? I prayed instead that God would empty me of me and be filled with Him. 

The car did not miraculously move the next time I started the car but I got an idea. One of those "brilliant" ideas. I left my car in first and pushed and pushed. My car began to inch forward and because it was in first I quickly made my way around the car grabbed the door and jumped in to pull the emergency brake and pull the car out of gear just as the car made its way into a bucket and a plow. Thankfully nothing was damaged except for my license plate which is a little bent up. 

Then I realized that my car was stuck again. I was actually enjoying this. It was a puzzle something that needed to be solved. Praying and pushing and digging forty five minutes from the time I first turned the key I was on my way. I called the Pastor to tell him I was late and I found out he too had been stuck in his driveway and was going to be late. 

The most exciting part of the day came a few hours later. Pastor McNeil was showing me one of the churches when a man with two kids walked up to us. We began chatting and during the conversation it was brought up that he was the man that mows the grass (the church has been dead for awhile but the pastor has plans of starting it again.) We told him we were going to be starting the church up again and it would be on Friday evenings. The man was interested in coming to church because it was only two doors down from his house and it would be more convenient than going to the next town over to go to church. We got his name and number and will be visiting him soon. God's timing is precisely perfect. Had our cars not gotten stuck the pastor and I might have been at the Salamanca church earlier and missed the meeting with the man. It is better to let God organize our day; our appointments may get a little messed up but we will make it for all of His.

I just wanted to add that the verse I was memorizing last week was Psalm 71:1

In you, O Lord, I put my trust. Let me never be put to shame. -NKJV

I think that it is a fitting verse to describe this experience.