Today was a lifetime full of experience for me. Looking back I realize that each moment, each place and time of this day was overflowing with God's grace and mercy for me and for the people with whom I interacted, for the situations that were birthed and resolved from wake up until this moment I have been experiencing the mighty grace of a God who is faithful even as I teeter on the edge of falling He protects and defends me and He hears my prayers.
I don't want to go into details because I don't want to draw attention to myself so much as to the unbelievable and humbling grace of my Father who art in Heaven.
It began last night as I made a decision out of my self-will that, in the morning, created another decision of mine to cancel plans I had made to visit someone I love dearly who is sick and in the hospital and to be with his wife. I also had a friend who was going with me who cancelled because of a forgotten prior commitment. Had things gone according to my plans we would have visited in the morning and I would have been home in time to attend a graduation party in the afternoon.
I attended the graduation party where I received a call that led me to choose to go to the hospital as soon as possible where the situation had worsened quickly. (Stay with me cause I want to share the power of a living God with you)
On the way to the party I stopped for gas. An old friend was at one of the pumps gassing up his motorcycle. We have chemistry but no history and that is enuff info on the matter. We talked, had not seen each other in months, caught up on stuff for a few minutes, he bought my gas, the chemistry was real and I am very lonely in my marriage. I ended up agreeing to go for a motorcycle ride in the near future and we parted ways.
Immediately the struggle began inside of me. I started rationalizing and fighting with myself. Finally I called a friend and confessed the huge fantasy building in my mind. I asked God to help me, parked and went into the hospital.
Over the course of a few hours my friend's wife and I became alarmed by her husband's worsening condition. We went to the cafeteria for a rest and here is where I start tying all of this together.
My self-will the night before was turned to God's purpose because I was positioned for God to do His will for my friends later in the day when my presence best served His purpose.
God was not finished. I would have missed the graduation party had I gone to the hospital in the morning. I got the call at the party where there were a group of Christians who prayed for my friend.
I met my old friend at the gas station causing me to confront a struggle that is intensely challenging for me when it occurs. I made a bad choice. I became confused and faced a life changing decision point. I confessed it and turned it over to God.
At the hospital a dear friend of mine who works there was able to see my friend, find me and his wife in the cafeteria and offer us insight that gave us an entirely new perspective on how to best serve and care for my friends husband. On the nurses floor the nurses immediately agreed and, much to our amazement, my friend, so desperately ill, let go and allowed the nurses to guide him. He even became convicted of what they were telling him. We had prayer and I left to go to a friend's to decompress before going home. I was still struggling with this incident at the gas pumps. I talked to my friend about it and left her house feeling the old nature sparring with my new life in Christ.
I randomly chose a movie from Netflix and it was completely about a woman who felt lonely in her marriage, chose to hang out with this other man and, long story short, the consequences were devastating. My God showed me beyond the shadow of a doubt where I was heading if I continued in my train of thought and I know as good as I know I am sitting on my couch this moment that my Father loved me that much to grace me with a story that brought me back to my senses and away from the temptation.
So, short story long, God redeemed my self-will through out the day, used each moment of the day to build on itself showing His glory in perfect timing, perfect love with a healthy dose of a much needed lesson for me.
We asked God to grant my friend peace, calmness of spirit and the last call I got from his wife she told me the drama and stress had subsided and her husband and my friend was relaxing, letting go and calm. The night nurse had first put her arms around him and told him she loved him and then began the marching orders. WOW!!
There is none like Him. I am not saying God ordained that I make self-willed choices to cause a change in my plans. He had a plan for today and I was in it because He chose for me to be in it. God loved us today, He guided us today, He protected us today, He gathered us together today. He does it all the time. Today it was revealed to me as the day wore on and by this time of the day I am in awe. Tomorrow I may not see the path so clearly. I might not see it at all but that does not mean the path is not evolving or that I am any less on it. I don't know the mind or the ways of God. There is none like Him!
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