Broken plans=God's provision...(cont'd)

The life of George Mueller has always fascinated me. At times I think of it as a fantasy story because he has those unexplainable stories of God's provision. I think of when he had no food but sat at the table and prayed for the food nonetheless. After prayer there was a knock at the door and a bread truck had broken down in front of his house and he could have all the food. So amazing are these stories of God's provision in the small things that, though in my heart I believe them, in my mind I tend to brush them off as legend.

I traveled to Jackson Hole WY this past week for the world conference and 25th anniversary of Engineering Ministries International. We were to start the week camping and getting to know the other world staff. I arrived at 10pm but, due to logistical confusion, the people scheduled to pick me up from the airport didn't come.

At 11:30, as the last taxi was getting ready to leave for home, I made the choice to get transportation before I was stranded at the airport until morning. I didn't know the name of the campground nor any phone number (bad planning on my part). I had $34 in my pocket and the taxi cost $30 to get to town. John, the taxi driver, was a friendly fellow and we checked in the most likely camping area on the way to Jackson to see if EMI was there. They were not so we continued to Jackson in search of a place to sleep.

In the car I was able to share with him about Christ and the work we are doing in Guatemala. He was very interested and shared ideas he had about water purification. Once we arrived in Jackson we found the hotels full. He had a friend at one more hotel and if she couldn't help he would lend me his car to sleep in for the night.

He introduced me to Eileen who had no rooms available but called her friend Carlos at another hotel to see what he had available. She pleaded my case as a missionary which must have peaked Carlos' interest and he wanted to talk to me. In Spanish he explained how he was a Mormon missionary from Brazil and he offered me the room for the employee rate of $45 and asked if that was too expensive for me. I explained that I wasn't anticipating paying anything for this evening so anything would seem expensive but I thanked him for his gracious offer and said I would take him up on it. He then changed and said, "just come over and stay for free". John the taxi driver hated to charge me the $30 but had to because the airport logs the pickups but he said he could come in the morning to take me wherever I needed to go for free. Not only did I get a great room, I was able to access my email to get the name of the campground and phone number of Danna who was coordinating the whole trip.

In the morning I noticed on the map that our campground was a good 45min away so I called John and left a message thanking him for the offer but I couldn't ask him to take me so far. So I decided to walk to the edge of town and hitchhike to the campground. Shirley, who owns a cleaning company gave me a ride about 10 mi in where she needed to turn off to clean a house. While walking with my thumb up high, the next person to stop was officer Kate Wilkens who let me know that it is ILLEGAL to hitchhike in a national park! I was kinda stuck seeing as how I would have to hitchhike to even get out of the park. She offered me her cell phone and asked if I had anyone to call even if it was long distance. I had only one number and I called Danna.

Danna had been getting spotty service way out there but I was able to catch her in one of the spots with service. She was already on the road to Jackson to buy supplies for the eMi BBQ. Kate spoke with her and found out that she would be passing my location within 7min. Danna arrived and off we went.

The most amazing part of this journey is the implications. Had someone picked me up at the airport, I would have had to set up my tent in the dark and sleep another day on the ground without a shower, but, instead look at the following events:

I brought $40 for food while camping, In LA I bought luch at McDonalds leaving me only $34. If I didn't have the $30 I couldn't have gotten the taxi. If no taxi then I wouldn't have been introduced to Eileen. If no Eileen then I wouldn't have spoken to Carlos from Brazil. If no Carlos then I wouldn't have gotten a free room, hot shower or internet access. If no internet then I wouldn't have had the phone number or name of the campsite. If no name or number then I would have driven around with John and not hitchhiked. If no hitchhiking I wouldn't have been left on the highway in the middle of the park. If not left then Officer Date would not have stopped with a cell phone. And if she didn't give me that cell phone at just the right time then I would not have reached Danna let alone at exactly the right time for her to pick me up without missing a beat! I helped with the groceries and was able to set up my tent in the daylight, fresh and clean from my shower and comfortable sleep the night before.

Granted this story is much less impressive than the Mueller story, probably because my faith is so much smaller, but the implication is the same. God cares for us and many times he has our plans go wrong so he can remind us of his sovereignty. The most important thing is not that God's plan was actually better but rather that had I been picked up at the airport I would have missed this great reminder. I have found that it is particularly when our plans fail that we can truly see God's provision.