Twice now, in my life, it has come to my attention that I have been the answer to someone’s prayers. A very humbling experience. The first time there was a new church in Massachusetts praying for a youth minister. They focused on this need one particular night in September. They had no idea how they could do this, because the church was so small they couldn’t afford to pay, but yet they had several youth in the church. Note; despite the facts they prayed. They believed God would hear, and God would answer.
One year later I arrived as their new youth minister who agreed to work with no salary. I went because I knew God would bless my obedience and somehow meet my needs, and that he did. A few months after working in the church I got into a discussion about how I came to be there. One of the church elders told me about the prayer meeting. I pressed to know the actual date. When he recalled and shared the date I realized that was the very night God called me into the ministry. During the following year God got me ready for the ministry.
The second time is more recent. I have been divorced for 23 years or so. A long time. For the most part, I have been content with my situation. I had even said I didn’t want to be married again, that I was okay. Then in the past year, something begin to change. I started hearing several testimonials of success from online dating. Something I did not believe in. Also I started meeting women who had come to America from the Philippines and were happily married. They shared their stories, and encouraged me to try.
One Friday afternoon I found myself filling out a profile on a Filipino dating site. I submitted it and my matches came up. As soon as I saw April’s cute face my heart was captivated. I read her profile and was hopeful. Could she be real? I wondered. I found her on Facebook and sent her a message. I never expected to hear from her but two hours later I did.
We begin texting a lot. Every chance we could. Then, I called her. She was so shy but cute. Eventually, we took one giant step and video called. Wow! She’s real, and I haven’t been talking to a man in Yemen. As the conversations continued, our hearts became knitted. I decided it was time to go meet her and her family in person.
I traveled the 7000 plus miles. After being there several days I learned that April and her family had been praying for years for a man to marry her. I have come to accept that I am the answer. The only way to be the answer to someone’s prayer is by yielding to God’s will. To be willing to go, do, and say as he directs. I’m not special, just willing. There may be a people group in a foreign country praying for you, or a manager praying for a dedicated worker. Whatever the case may be, I hope you look beyond your own desires and accept God’s desires for your life.
Copyright © 2019 Mark Brady, All rights reserved
In my last blog, I mentioned being in the Philippines. On that trip, one thing that really caught me off guard, was how hard it was to try to blend in. For instances, when in a grocery store I was looking for chili to put on hot dogs. They took me to the hot sauce isle. Then trying to speak their language was a disaster most of the time. They have a phrase there when you are trying to speak a foreign language, and doing a poor job of it, your nose bleeds. My bled a lot! The most difficult part was trying to accept how they do things there. At times, it felt like a part of me was dying. To quote Seinfeld, “If the two worlds collide, the George you know, will no longer exist!”
Traveling to new places can be exciting, exhilarating, and exuberant. It can also be daunting, especially when your phone doesn’t work. One of my mother’s friends said, before my trip to the Philippines, that he couldn’t even find the airport in his home town, much less one 7000 miles away. Trust me, there were many times when I was praying, a lot. Especially when I arrived and couldn’t find my host family. Turned out, United had started using a different terminal in Manilla 3 days before my arrival.
In Exodus 14:14-18 it says when the people heard they were scared. The Philistines writhed and trembled; Yes, even the head men in Edom were shaken, and the big bosses in Moab. Everybody in Canaan panicked and fell faint. Dread and terror sent them reeling.
I was going through my father’s papers the other day. I had to keep some of them, but most of them were old records about his life that were no longer of value, so I shredded them. While going through that process I thought about a man’s life, and the summation of it all. Is the end result a bag of shredded documents? I hope not.
I have always said, “I would rather be one mile behind God than one inch in front of him!” But recently, I feel as though I am trying to catch my breath doing my best to keep up with him. It’s as if I am running late to the party, God has been inviting me to all year. I just didn’t see it. He was orchestrating a new season in my life, and I didn’t even notice him hanging the decorations.
I was looking for my leftover Christmas cards when I came across a Father’s Day card that never got sent this year, because he passed the previous month. It caused me to pause and think about words unsaid.
I once had a neighbor, who on the way to the hardware mega store asked, “Why are you so different?” I had helped them with several needs after they had moved into their new home. He asked, I told him. The truth appealed to him and his wife, and they accepted Jesus.
I was playing cards the other night with some friends. One lady kept getting great hands. I said, “You are blessed, and highly favored!” We all laughed, but then the very next round she got another great hand. I said it again. After realizing that she was doing great, I quit saying it about her and begin professing it for myself. I started getting good hands.
“God, I want to walk with you.”
brady, mark a. 