Please Lord, let me meet a friend
“Please Lord, let me meet a friend,” I prayed aloud in the car.
My hands gripped the steering wheel tight as I fought back feelings of discomfort of going to an event where I didn’t know anyone. I could already feel the awkwardness as I walked into a room without a familiar face to walk over to that would put me at ease.
I was headed to a women’s event at a church I had recently started attending. A church, like so many others, that had only recently started meeting again in person after the Covid shutdowns.
And while I was elated at the idea of finally meeting in person after months of feeling alone and isolated, I was also feeling the pangs of leaving my comfort zone and fighting the urge to stay in and watch Netflix on a Friday night in bed.
Truthfully, it’s all fun and games until the day an event actually arrives, and you have to push yourself to go. Then you have to fight through the awkward.
God orchestrates everything perfectly
Some people call it serendipity, chance, luck, or providence. Christians know that it’s God.
If I had been even 5 minutes earlier or later, or if the host had decided to seat me on the other side of the sanctuary, if my mom had come with me or her mom had come with her, I might not have met my friend that night.
But you know what? All of these things that needed to happen in order for us to sit right next to each other and to be there alone in the same spot – they happened. Each in the proper order. In the perfect timing. It’s surreal thinking about the logistics behind even something as simple as meeting a friend. God is the master of logistics.
Nothing about that night was fate. Everything about that night was orchestrated by God.
Help my unbelief
Thank you Lord for your all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-loving nature. For providing for us even when we don’t really think you’re going to come through. Even when we lack faith.
I always think back to that story in the Bible in Mark 9. The father of a boy Jesus heals says to Jesus, “I believe; help my unbelief!” And, so often, this is me. This needs to be my constant prayer.
It scares me to know that my first reaction to meeting this woman was not a confirmation of my faith. A faith that knows God really does hear me when I ask Him for things. That He loves me and knows what’s coming and how to orchestrate everything.
My first reaction was more along the lines of, “Wow, I can’t believe God really made this happen for me. He actually listened to me. He really sent me something I asked for.”
So convicting.
How come I had gotten so used to being disappointed and not expectant that it was my first instinct to be amazed that He came through on something that I needed?
At that moment I knew that I needed to ask God to reignite my faith.
Excuses, excuses
I could have easily stayed in, determined it was too dark or far away for me to justify driving there. I could have said that my head hurt and my mind was spinning after a long week of work. Or that I deserved a night to myself, just relaxing, not having to make the effort to meet new people.
There were so many excuses I could have used that night, but the important thing is that I didn’t. I knew that God wanted me to be there even if I had to push past the discomfort of going.
I can’t even count the number of times that I’ve let excuses win. I’ve let them control my life and choices rather than listening to the word of God. Yet this was yet another reminder to push past these excuses going forward.
Thank You Lord for always getting me to push past my feelings and doubts. For pushing past the discomfort and allowing the voice of obedience to be the loudest over all of the surrounding voices that try and distract me.
Questions:
- How many times have you allowed excuses to win and said no to something that you felt God was calling you to do?
- What are the excuses that generally compete for your attention and distract you when it comes to doing what God says you should do?
- Do you ever find that you’re amazed or shocked when God comes through on something where you didn’t expect him to come through?
- How do you think you can grow your faith to believe that God is who He says He is and that He can do anything?
