Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do. Acts 9:6
At the beginning of the Apostle Paul’s conversion he is told to respond obediently to God without being given the whole picture. This must have been a tough call for this man who had an equivalent of a modern day PhD at one of the worlds top educational organizations. Paul had been so controlling that he was leading thepersecution of Christians which included the death penalty for young people caught spreading this uncontrollable religion. These are the first seeds to his understanding that, “All things work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose,” which he would write many years later in his theological treatise in the letter to the Romans. What he was learning was that just about the time we think we know it all – “we don’t know nothing yet.” We learn to trust (that when we can’t understand what is going on), God knows and works for someone who loves him.
It reminds me of a story about a missionary in Romania. He was visiting the people in his neighborhood when he spotted a tiny kitten in a tree. The kitten was terribly afraid and since he was a man of God he felt it his duty to help the kitten. So after much thought he tied a rope into a lasso and roped the branch above the kitten. He tied the other end to his car and drove forward slowly so that he pulled the branch with the kitten down. He got out of the car to set the kitten free when the rope broke creating an incredible catapult and the poor kitten just disappeared. He looked all over and felt terrible but he could find no trace of it.
The next week he was shopping at the neighborhood market and he noticed a woman from his church (who he knew lacked enthusiasm for pets). What surprised him was that she had cat food in her basket. When he asked her about it, she told him that last week her daughter had begged her for a pet. So she thought she would get out of the situation by telling her that she could not have a pet unless God gave her one! Satisfied with that answer her daughter ran out into the backyard, plopped down on the ground and began to pray, “God please give me a pet!” She opened her eyes and do you know what she saw? A little kitten, with pawsoutstretched, flying through the air! It landed right in front of her and has been a part of their family ever since.
The minister didn’t even try to explain it because he knew that God works in strange ways. Sometimes stranger than others.
Your friend for the rest of our lives,
Pastor Tim White
It reminds me of a story about a missionary in Romania. He was visiting the people in his neighborhood when he spotted a tiny kitten in a tree. The kitten was terribly afraid and since he was a man of God he felt it his duty to help the kitten. So after much thought he tied a rope into a lasso and roped the branch above the kitten. He tied the other end to his car and drove forward slowly so that he pulled the branch with the kitten down. He got out of the car to set the kitten free when the rope broke creating an incredible catapult and the poor kitten just disappeared. He looked all over and felt terrible but he could find no trace of it.
The next week he was shopping at the neighborhood market and he noticed a woman from his church (who he knew lacked enthusiasm for pets). What surprised him was that she had cat food in her basket. When he asked her about it, she told him that last week her daughter had begged her for a pet. So she thought she would get out of the situation by telling her that she could not have a pet unless God gave her one! Satisfied with that answer her daughter ran out into the backyard, plopped down on the ground and began to pray, “God please give me a pet!” She opened her eyes and do you know what she saw? A little kitten, with pawsoutstretched, flying through the air! It landed right in front of her and has been a part of their family ever since.
The minister didn’t even try to explain it because he knew that God works in strange ways. Sometimes stranger than others.
Your friend for the rest of our lives,
Pastor Tim White
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