The Unknown Things Are Known to God
by Peggy Jones
Have you ever made a snap decision only to second guess yourself while you wait on the outcome of the situation? We have all been there!
It was about a week before Christmas and I stopped to get gas after buying groceries. The touch pad asked me to insert my credit card.
What is this?
Someone left their card in the slot and drove off without it!
I quickly removed the card and put it in my pocket before I pumped and paid for my own purchase. I must get this card to its rightful owner. I thought about turning it in to the cashier, but no; if I could, I wanted to take it upon myself to get it safely to its destination. I got into my car and slipped the strange card out of my pocket. It was a business credit card. I got out my phone & looked up the person’s name, and the name of his company popped right up. It was a consulting firm located just down the street from our church!
I called the number listed on the phone and I got the man’s voicemail. He said his name, so I knew I had the right person. I left a message saying that I had his card and that I would drop it off to his place of business on Sunday. He had my phone number in case he wanted to call me.
For two days I struggled whether I was doing the right thing. I had a few people tell me that it was wrong of me to hold onto it, that I should have given it to the cashier. But what if the cashier was dishonest? What if the cashier lost it? I learned from my parents to see things through to the finish.
The man never called me. It was his business phone, and it was a weekend, and maybe he didn’t have time to check his messages. But in my head I was thinking that perhaps when he did finally contact me, he might be really angry with me for not leaving it with the cashier and accuse me of trying to steal his card. Now I couldn’t wait to get rid of it!
I did pick out a really nice evangelical Christmas card and wrote a short note in it for the man. I slipped the credit card inside. I prayed for him. I thought this might be the only card he gets this year with a genuine Christmas message in it. I drove to his office and slipped the card under the office door.
Monday came. My phone rang as I was setting up lunch in a lecture hall. I excused myself from my coworker and went into a nearby stairwell for privacy.
Peggy? This is John…
He had a very pleasant voice, not at all as I imagined. I was thinking all weekend when he calls he might really tear into me!
“I want to thank you for finding my card. And I have your Christmas card here on my desk.”
I told him it was no trouble at all to bring it to his office, as our church is right down the street. He said that he and his wife are also Christians and that he attends a Men’s Bible study twice a week! He asked if he could pray for me.
Wow! That man really knew how to pray! I could tell he was a genuine prayer warrior! He spoke a blessing over me that I can honestly say was the best present I received this Christmas. I was on a spiritual high all week, and to this day when I think about our interaction I know the blessing is real. When I am having a hard day, I think about it and am refreshed. He spoke the promises of God to me.
I had hoped John didn’t have to cancel his card, but he said he did. He wasn’t mad about that, just happy to find out that no one had compromised it. He was so full of God’s love.
I write this to say that God orchestrates our comings and goings. We need not worry. And there are wonderful, unimaginable blessings on the other side of the “unknowns” in our lives.
