More Precious than Gold
A couple of months ago, my brother invited Kim and I to join he and some of his family on a trip to the Bahamas. Now, I haven't spent a lot of time with my brother and his family in the last 20 years, since I moved from Alabama to Texas, so I thought that it would be a good thing for us to do.
The first hurdle was whether or not we could get someone to keep the kids, since they were still in school during the time that they were planning on going on the trip. We checked with our baby-sitter and with Grandma and both assured us that they would have everything under control. After getting confirmation from them, we began to move forward with our plans to go. We made our airline reservations and sent in our part of the fee for the four-bedroom house where we would be staying.
I made a arrangements for a pastor to come fill in for me the week that I would be gone. No problem! Everything moved forward like clockwork. There appeared to be no hitches in our plans…that is until two nights before we were supposed to fly out of Houston.
My brother calls me to tell me that he still doesn't have his passport. He had sent his in about six weeks ago and it still hadn't come back in yet. He said, "Don't worry, because it'll probably come in tomorrow." I told him that we'd be praying for the passport to come in on time.
The next afternoon we get an email. My brother's passport didn't come in! We had made all of these plans in order to spend time with my brother and his family, and it was shaping up that he wasn't even going to be able to come on the vacation. Everyone was upset!
Kim and I boarded the plane in Houston and flew to Ft. Lauderdale, where we had a long layover until late afternoon. Not wanting to sit at the airport all day, we took a taxi into town and found a good restaurant for lunch. As we were eating, I got a text message on my phone: "The passport came in! Hallelujah!"
Kim and I said a prayer of thanksgiving that God had showed up at just the right time, once again! My brother received his passport just in the nick of time for them to make their flight to the Bahamas.
We hailed a cab that carried us back to the airport and took our crop duster plane ride on to the Bahamas. The next day, my brother and his family arrived right on schedule. The passport had arrived on the last mail run before their flights left the following day.
Sometimes, when we need God to answer our prayers the most, it seems as if He's not listening. It seems as though He doesn't care about us or our situation. Our response should always be to continue to pray for God's hand to move. If we pray in earnest, God will answer. Oftentimes the reason why He doesn't answer right away is that He's trying to grow our faith in Him. 1Peter 1:7 says, "These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold– though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world."
So keep praying and hold onto the Lord through all circumstances, thanking Him all along the way. Your faith will continue to grow as you learn to trust in Him who loves you enough to want the very best for you, and your faith is more important to Him than gold.
