Another Opportunity to Give Thanks

Five years ago, Matt and I experienced a faith crisis. It was an all out spiritual battle and it shook us to the very core of our beings. We had a decision to make. Compromise our faith in Christ and His Word, or cling to Christ alone, the Word alone. We chose the latter, but not without lots of tears, prayer and seeking out of wise godly counsel.

In one instance, the Lord provided us some wise counsel in a miraculous way. Matt and I attended a Christian Bible conference in the Fall of that year. We were in the throws of our "faith crisis." I prayed the entire weekend that we would be able to speak with one of the conference speakers about our situation. The conference ended without such an opportunity, but God had other plans. The next morning at breakfast in our hotel, Matt and I spotted two of the conference speakers and their wives eating together. We interrupted their meal and asked if they would mind talking to us for a bit after they finished eating. They gladly agreed.

The six of us went into a conference room. Matt and I told them everything. All of the pain we had been experiencing in the past weeks came pouring out. The four of them bathed us with prayer and the Word. They emboldened us to go home and do what we knew the Lord wanted us to do. What a gift. Instead of rushing off to get home, these two couples, whom we didn't even know, took the time to shepherd a shaking-in-their boots scared young couple. It was something Matt and I will never forget.

A couple of months ago, the brochure for the homeschool conference arrived in our mail box. We were thrilled to see that one of the men who counseled us that day five years ago would be a speaker at the conference this year. We began to pray that the Lord would allow us to attend the conference so that we could thank the man. This past weekend we did attend the conference. God did give us the opportunity to thank both the man and his wife, who was also in attendance.

They remembered us. We introduced them to each of the kids. We told them that the faith crisis we had five years ago had actually been a great blessing to us. Because of that experience, we had a proper understanding of the perfectness of God's Word. The Bible is without error and it is as relevant today as it was in Moses' day. We told them that our lives have taken a completely different path because of that experience. We thanked them for taking the time to pray with us that day. The wife said, "You know, that's the way trials are, you'd never ask for them, but they bring the most beautiful blessings." How true.

Only the Living God is capable of transforming trials into blessings. We do indeed serve a wonderfully awesome and merciful God in this grand adventure called life.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28