Continued from last week…
Beth loaded her two kids in her car and drove straight to the neurosurgeon’s office, imploring the receptionist to give her “just two minutes” with him. Between patients when the doctor walked out to see them, Beth stood Antonio on the floor. As the toddler walked clumsily towards the astonished doctor, Beth gave God all the credit.
Today, Antonio (Evan) Guckenberger majors in Exercise Science and is a wide receiver for the Taylor University football team. Because of his deformities as a baby, he was doomed never to walk again, yet today he is recognized for his speed and athleticism.
You’ve gotta smile.
At our retreat, Beth shared another story about a Monterrey, Mexico, orphanage that had run out of food. The kids showed up in the dining room for their evening meal but were told by their guardian that there was nothing to eat. He asked that they pray for God to send food, and just as they bowed their heads, a four-year-old boy raised his hand. “Can we pray for meat?” Surprised by the request, the guardian told him that God certainly was big enough to send meat. While bowing their heads a second time, the same youngster again raised his hand. “What about steak? We never have steak. Could we pray for steak?”
“Yes,” answered the guardian, unable to stifle a laugh. “If God wants us to have steak, we will have steak.” Meanwhile, across the city, unaware of the orphanage’s plight, Beth received a phone call from a stranger. He was in Monterrey for a meat convention that had just ended. (You probably can guess the rest.) The caller had a truckload of steaks he would like to give away, and “someone at the convention center” had given him Beth’s number, telling him of her involvement with the Mexico orphanages. If Beth could meet him, she could have the steaks.
Beth asked Todd, her husband, to drive downtown in his pickup “to load up some steaks.” Todd had questions. What did this man look like? What was he driving? How did Beth know this wasn’t a hoax? She had no answers. With little confidence this would have a happy ending, Todd drove to the destination given and was surprised to have the meat distributor waiting for him. In the meantime, Beth did what she did best: she prayed. If this is legitimate, which orphanage has the greatest need? Immediately the name of an orphanage came to mind, and it was there she had Todd deliver the steaks.
Can you imagine the looks on those kids’ faces when that pickup truck pulled into their driveway with its delivery? Even the guardian admitted he never expected prayer to have an answer of that magnitude.
We serve a God who is so much bigger than we take the time to know. We pray for little because we fail to recognize how much God loves us and wants to meet our needs. Jesus reminded us of that in Matthew 6:26. Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
I love how the young orphan’s first idea was to ask God for help. He didn’t cry because he was hungry. He didn’t suggest they hit the streets and beg for money. He didn’t need to.
He knew the bigness of his God.