Answered Prayer

I inserted my card into the ATM, and a notice popped up to inform me the machine was not working at the moment and to please try again later.

I tried again, but the result was the same. I did not leave, but others who tried it met with the same failure. A lady waiting behind me stepped forward after I had withdrawn my card. Being quite close to her, I noticed that she had inserted it the wrong way. I approached and showed her how to correct the error, but because the same notice popped up, she turned to leave in a huff. I quickly pulled out a favorite book about Christ and offered it to her, along with some words of encouragement. She looked at it and smiled, noting the author’s name. “You’re an Adventist!” she exclaimed. I confirmed that I was, and she continued, “If you only knew how long I have been praying that God would bring an Adventist into my path so I could talk to her and get her to clarify various problems for me.” We moved aside from the ATM, and she told me she was from a nearby country town. Her family had a house fire that left her and her husband struggling to repair the damage. As she shared her story, the Holy Spirit reminded me of a story I had recently read from my daily devotional, and I related it to her.

The story went like this: One day, a storm destroyed a farmer’s entire harvest. Together with his son, who was a little boy at the time, he began to sing a song of praise without arguing with God about the damage done by the storm.

God helped them, and they were able to meet the family’s needs. Years went by. The farmer’s son became a pastor, and one day, while the farmer listened to his son preach, a thought flashed through his mind. The year he had lost his harvest, the real harvest was his son! The powerful influence of the father’s attitude in the face of suffering and calamity marked his son and impacted his life choices forever.

This lady listened with teary eyes. I directed her to prayerfully study the Scriptures and urged her to go to the baptismal class, where all her questions would be answered. I ask you to intercede for her and her family, for their salvation, that they may become jewels in Christ’s kingdom through eternity.

Magdalena Toma