An answer to prayer

I spent time with the lady that (possibly) will be my supervisor. She tells me that I am an answer to her prayers. She has been in desperate need of a person with computer and communication skills. Personally, I am thrilled that God, our Heavenly Father, takes care of the "details." We just have to "Trust and Obey" (as the old hymn says), "for there is no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey."

Not by accident, I'm reading a small book written by Bernie May, titled Learning to Trust. On pages 13-17 Mr. May writes:
I am forever amazed over the ability of God to take seemingly disjointed events and put them together for His glory when men and women trust Him.

I remember being called out of a meeting in Oklahoma to take an urgent phone message from Forrey Zander, who directed the regional office of Wycliffe Bible Translators in Chicago. Forrey was excited. He had been talking with a young woman from Asia who had just completed her master's degree in communications at Wheaton College. Since foreign missionaries are no longer allowed in her country, this young woman, Thangi, had planned to return to her homeland in some missionary capacity.

Asia is a vast continent with many diverse cultures and languages. Thangi's parents, who are national missionaries, work near an area where more than half a million people represent twenty different languages and dialects. Only two language groups have portions of the Scripture. Her father, knowing she was about to graduate from Wheaton, had asked her to consider returning home as a Bible translator.

Thangi had contacted Forrey in our Chicago office. He, in turn, had suggested she apply to the Summer Institute of Linguistics school in Dallas--to work on another master's degree, this time in linguistics. It was now one week before deadline and Thangi was still $1,000. short. Forrey was calling, asking if I could raise the money for this critical need.

I had just come out of a meeting with a number of representative from various divisions of Wycliffe Bible Translators. They had come from many different parts of the world to present their financial needs--which totaled more than eight million dollars. Some of these needs had been critical for years. Now Forrey was asking me to put Thangi at the front of the line.

I knew I had the ability to raise the money. I knew I could bypass the request from Indonesia to raise thirty-three thousand dollars to buy a new electrical generator to give power to the jungle base at Danau Bira. I could bypass the need to find money to purchase a new airplane to replace the one which had recently crashed in South America. Sure there was enough money--in some budget category--to send Thangi to graduate school in Dallas so she could return home as a Bible translator to her own people. All I would have to do was to change some priorities. But I also knew that that would be trusting in my own ability. I felt God was asking me to trust Him.

"I can't treat her in a special way," I told Forrey. "But if God wants her in school this week, we can trust Him to locate and provide the funds. I will do two things. I'll pray about it. And if anyone approaches me and say they have one thousand dollars to help train a national translator, I'll direct the money to Thangi."

I could hear the air escaping from Forrey's punctured balloon. But since he also understands what it means to trust God and not self, he agreed to my terms. He contacted Thangi, told her of the decision to trust God, and received her enthusiastic approval. She, too, understood the principle.

The next day I had lunch with a wealthy man who could have easily written out a check for one thousand dollars to send Thangi to school. All I had to do was use some marketing and sales ability I had learned a long time ago and I knew he would give me the money. But I had no leading to ask for money for Thangi. I left the luncheon feeling guilty, but I knew it was right to wait on God.

Two days later I was flying my plane from Oklahoma back to California. The weather was bad over the southern route, so I flew home by way of Colorado. I knew my friends, Henry and Marcia Stuart from Dallas, were probably vacationing in their cabin near Crested Butte. I needed gas anyway, so when I stopped over, I gave them a call. Henry was delighted to hear my voice and drove over and picked me up at the airport to take me out to his house. I was just getting ready to sit down on the porch and drink a glass of tea when Henry spoke up.

"Bernie, I'm glad you stopped by. I've been thinking about the work carried on by Wycliffe Bible Translators. It seems you ought to try to find some Christian nationals and begin training them to help with Bible translation. If you ever find anyone like that, I'd like to invest one thousand dollars to help with their education."

I began to laugh, "Let me tell you about Thangi," I said. By the time I had finished my story, Marcia had brought Henry the checkbook and I had the money in hand.

I borrowed Henry's phone and called Forrey in Chicago. He in turn called Thangi, who saw it as a confirmation of God's will. Flying on to California, I filled the cockpit with praise to our God who takes loose ends and weaves a beautiful tapestry. A young Indiana woman at Wheaton had opened her life to God's call--trusted Him to act. A father back in India who sensed a need trusted God and spoke what he believed was the word of the Lord to his daughter. Our Chicago Wycliffe executive had communicated that need to me and trusted God to act. A Texas couple, vacationing in Colorado with some of God's money in their pocket, trusted God to act and to show them where He wanted the money. And then there was me. We were all trusting God--and He acted.

There is no way man can engineer something like this. God, however, has a plan for every life. Where there is a plan, there is a purpose behind it. And with every purpose and plan, there is ample provision. All God needs are men and women who will not lean on their own understanding, but will trust Him.

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