I must share this. Two weeks ago, I attended a prayer retreat led by Dr James Houston held in University Chapel, a church located on the campus. For those who know me, this would not come as a surprise. Part of the program broke us up in pairs and we could decide how we wanted to do it. My friend and I decided to go for a hike in the trails and we took off with a sense of adventure, keen to try trails that had less people and seem less explored. Again that’s hardly out of character for me. As we walked, we shared openly about our struggles with faith and being in ministry. I talked about how it sometimes feels as if we do not need to exercise faith in our Christian walk. This is the case even in ministry when we know everything so well and our programs are so well planned, it matters little if God turned up! I guess that’s one of the many hazards of professional ministry. So I shared with her my desire to see new faith testimonies for my life – I’m not sure I know what I’m asking for! She shared the same sentiments on the issue of faith. We expressed our desire for God’s direction in relation to our future in ministry.
As we walked we found that the trails were not very long and we soon found ourselves at the edge of the forest. We had a choice of either walking back to the church from the road or retracing our steps with the trail. So we took the road and made our way back to the church, only to start on a new trail. We were busy enjoying ourselves throughout our hike and even stop to pick berries as we went along. When we were walking along the road after the last trail, we weren’t quite sure where we were or which direction we should be heading. We walked for a while until we saw an entrance to another section of the trails, when we decided we would use that to try to get us back to the church. We kept walking, trusting our instincts and sense of direction to lead us as this section of the trail didn’t look familiar at all. We knew we were kind of lost but I didn’t sense any fear between us. The thought that neither of us had a cellphone crossed my mind – no GPRS!
At about this time, we decided we will pray for one another along the lines of what we have shared. Just as she started to pray, we came to an intersection and to our surprise found a map posted on a tree. This is the first and only map we have seen throughout our hike! For that moment, we were thrilled and our hearts burst with joy at His gracious and timely provision. We both felt a strong affirmation of the Lord presence with us and that He’s heard all that we’ve been sharing that morning. It was His way of answering our questions of faith, assuring us to keep on walking and that He is faithful to provide signs to guide us along when we need it. I always believe God’s got a great sense of humour so I can imagine Him laughing when He saw our expressions as He literally gave us the answer to our prayers just as we started to utter them. This is a pretty awesome experience for me.
