Being In Place

It's finally dawning on me after all these years! It's not always what I know or even what I say; it's IF I am in the right place at the right time. God can do amazing things without me, but He delights in doing them with me. So often the detours of a day turns us into huffing-puffing, palpitating, out-of-kilter humans who could not see a God-sent opportunity at that moment if our life depended on it! However, it is often when we find ourselves displaced and disoriented by a sudden turn of the day, that God desires to use us. Let me repeat that - for it's good stuff: at the precise moment when we are scratching our heads and trying to figure our way out of a situation, it is often at that moment, when we need to stand still, cock our heads, listen and observe what God is doing. It's an ecliptic moment when we could perhaps see God move in an almost tangible way.

However, it is true what they say that "hindsight is better than foresight" and it's no less true with this scenario. Tomorrow we might look back on what happened and analyze the players in that scene; suddenly realizing that we probably were supposed to have acted it out in a different way. "Carpe Diem" is perhaps the best advice that can be given here. Seizing that very moment with both hands, both ears, and with our whole heart, is a sure way of "making much of Jesus" during those times when our daily train is derailed by unexpected dilemmas.

Almost ten years ago I found myself in that kind of situation. Stricken with an acute and fierce plight of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) while serving as a missionary in West Africa, I struggled to eat balanced meals and keep my blood sugar level at a healthy high. We were in the middle of an evangelistic campaign, teaching the Africans how they could witness to their neighbors. I had taken a group of four ladies on a two-hour teaching session, going door-to-door witnessing to other ladies. Soon I broke out in a cold sweat and my insides began shaking from the plummeting blood sugar level. Knowing that I would be in bad shape if I did not get something to eat soon, I graciously (or at least I hope it was gracious) left the four ladies to finish the rounds. They most likely did not understand my need to eat in the middle of the afternoon, but there was no changing it. As I walked back to my car, I kicked some pebbles in the middle of the path and succumbed to an extreme case of self-pity. The book of Lamentations could not have exuded more sorrow and hopelessness as I whined to God (in my heart, thankfully, not outloud). But, as I reached my car, a man passing by me, stopped short and turned to face me with a look of disbelief on his face. He told me (mind you, he did not ask me) that I would show him the way to God that day. On another day, I will explain more about how he knew that I could show him to God.

But the point to this blog is that I was there at the exact time when he was passing by my car. The need to eat and bring my blood sugar back up to par was the reason for me going back to my car. God's timing is always impeccable, and all He asks of us is that we be in place. Be in place to watch Him weave His amazing work through us to a world that is in desperate need of something amazing!!