Sometimes I’m starting to think that if I told you my story, that you wouldn’t believe and you’d think I made it up. Actually, these days the conclusion I’ve come up with is ‘I couldn’t make this up if I tried’. I just can’t make this stuff up.
Yesterday morning was one of those mornings. It actually started the night before, but that’s another story altogether, which I may share at some point. But yesterday was my church day. It had been raining since the wee hours of the morning, and on top of that, the temperatures had dropped by about 20 degrees, so it was cold. Cold, rainy, and I was exhausted from a long work week. I didn’t want to go to church, I wanted to stay under the covers. Add to that, my exuberant 4 year old said she didn’t want to go to church. Perfect.
I sent my friend my thankful note (we still do it, over 4 months later). She responded and we chatted via text a little. She told me she was prepping for her bible study conference call, which would be in about half hour at 7:00am, and the focus was Romans 8:28. I quickly looked it up, and was encouraged by what I read. It states ‘and we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.’ NIV. Yup. Definitely an encouraging verse.
I made a quick breakfast for both of us, as it was still early, and managed to get back under the covers. But with an active 4 year old, you know sleep is almost impossible, especially when she’s wide awake. Somehow, we do this until about 10:30, where she changes her mind and starts saying, she wants to go to church. No.. We talked about this already, and decided we weren’t going. She’s insistent. I look at the time. Normally we’re already at church or at least on our way, not still laying in bed. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore, and jumped out of bed at 10:40. There’s a church that I enjoy going to that a little closer than my home church and if I get there by noon, I’ll still get praise and worship. That’s where we’re going. I did the almost impossible for a sabbath morning – got both of us ready in under half hour.
When I got to church, I knew that’s where I was meant to be. The singing was uplifting, even though it was windy and rainy outside. When the pastor got up to preach, his scripture was.. Yup, you guessed it – Romans 8:28-29. There cannot be such a coincidence. He delivered a timely message, and pointed out something that we usually missed in reading.. ‘And we know that…’ Knowing = certainty.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for using a 4 year old to get me to listen. Thank you for giving us the words that you want us to hear. Help us to increase in knowledge and understanding. Help us to test the messages that we hear against your words.