God did not give me the answer I desired in time!!!
He didn’t, He simply didn’t…
But what did He do? I’ll tell you…
I had to pick up a package from the STC Parcel Office and send one too at the
same time. Since the STC was in town and its Parcel Office closed at 6pm, and so was church but started
at 6pm, I decided to kill two birds with one stone. After being delayed by
traffic jams and others, I managed to get there by 5:40pm or so…. Relief!!!
The man at the counter gave me the package I was expecting
and I let him take a look at the package I wanted to send. He advised I buy a
padded envelope from a store nearby. I got to the store, asked for the
envelopes, picked my choice, opened my purse to take out my money to pay for
it… The money was gone!!!
Gone, it just wasn’t there!!!
The man overseeing the envelopes at the time was nice, he
said I should go on and process my parcel and come back and pay later, since
they were about closing. Hoping it would
be in the car, I thanked Him and rushed to the car. I began praying, “O God,
pleeeease help me find the money!!!”
But I didn’t…
So I went to the Parcel Office with my package and began
processing it. I knew I had no money, I was just praying for a miracle: I would
find the money in my purse. It would come out of hiding or something. When
the man asked for the money due, I opened my purse again… No money!
I asked if he could wait for me while I rush to
withdraw some money from a bank close by. He agreed!!! I rushed out of the STC
station to the bank. After being delayed at the gate because the security personnel
were involved in a conversation and had not noticed me, I tried withdrawing
money and realised my pin was wrong: I had simply forgotten it.
No answer from God then too…
I felt abandoned…
I stepped back into the car and called the Parcel Office,
the man answered and recognised me. I asked if the parcel could be sent on
credit and paid for when picked up. The man told me to come back to the Parcel
Office, that he’d sort it out for me.
Relieved, I drove back to see my processed package. The man gave me specific instructions for picking up the parcel in Accra. I
listened and thanked him and headed to the envelope vendor. I met the real
vendor, not the overseer, and explained my ordeal to her, assuring her I would
pay the next time I came to the Parcel Office. She agreed and was nice about it
too. I was so grateful.
Talk about unmerited favour. Now I didn’t mind that God had
not answered my prayer…
I said another thank you to the man at the Parcel Office and
stepped into my car to find the money at the foot of the driver’s seat. Shaking
my head, in surprise and slight-frustration and relief and near-exhaustion, I took the money and
headed to the Parcel Office to pay my debt.
The man refused to take the money telling me he had already
processed the parcel and could do nothing about it. It then dawned on me how
I had been processed and the need for the specific instructions he had given:
my package was officially a free fare one, stamped as one to be sent as one!
Talk about miracles!!
I went back to the envelope vendor and told her I had found
the money, expressing my gratitude once more. She accepted payment and I asked for a sachet of water. She refused
payment for the sachet. I had drunk my fill, realising how thirsty I had been
and for how long. I walked back to the car and was amazed at what God had done.
I thanked the man at the Parcel Office again, still in awe of God.
He had given me my answer but not in time…
As I drove off to church I began thinking of life in general
in relation to the events that took place in the last 40 minutes or so.
God sometimes gives us our desired answers but not in time, our time,
to His glory and to our extra benefit...
I had enjoyed a free fare package service not due me. I had enjoyed
a free sachet of water just at the right time to experience maximum
refreshment. I had found the money and used
a very small portion of it, way smaller than budgeted.
Talk about beautiful, not just my answer, not just ok, but
beautiful…
So why complain? Why complain when the Lord has assured us
in His word:
He has made
everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of
men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NIV84)
Why fret when the Lord has already made my future beautiful,
has assured me of this even when I cannot imagine what He has done for me in my
future; from beginning to end?
Why be shaken when the Lord has sorted
out my problems of today, and has set in motion its perfect fix and would
rather have me praise Him and rejoice in Him, than run around in circles in
the fear that has already been debunked, from beginning to end?
… Yet they cannot
fathom what God has done from beginning to end
Eccesiastes 3:11b (NIV84)
Just because I cannot fathom doesn’t mean He has not made it
beautiful in its time…
So I will trust our Living God. Yes, I will trust Him for
all, in all because:
He has made
everything beautiful in its time
Ecclesiates 3:11a (NIV84)
Not just okay, but beautiful….
And you…
I always ask, so I guess you’re not surprised this time that
I do…
What about you??
