God Has A Sense of Humor

This is Thanksgiving week in America. On Thursday families all over this country gather together, share a big meal, and give thanks for the past year. It became a national holiday in 1863, during the American Civil War, when President Abraham Lincoln designated the 4th Thursday in November as a day for the country to give thanks to God. America was two years into a brutal war that had seen many battles, the worst of which was the battle of Gettysburg that year, in which there were more than 50,000 casualties in three days! A lot of families, on both sides of the conflict, were mourning that Thanksgiving.

Our family has recently begun the Thanksgiving week by meeting our friends, Anne and Richard from Houston, and their daughters, sons-in-law, and their children for a hike somewhere in the mountains of Western North Carolina. This year we met them in the parking lot at the trailhead of a hike to Rainbow Falls in Gorges State Park. They arrived in 3 cars. Judy and I drove with our daughter in her van. I was the driver. Just before we hit the trail, I put the van keys in a pocket on the front of my pack and zipped the pocket closed.

The weather was perfect for a walk in the woods – no clouds, plenty of sun, and the temperature was in the mid 40s (F). After greeting each other in the parking lot, we began the hike. The trail was wide, easy to follow, and carpeted with leaves. It started out downhill, and for the next hour it was all downhill, which, of course, meant it would be all uphill on the way back to the cars. After half an hour on the trail, Richard turned back. I did the same after an hour. The rest of the party kept walking to the falls.

About half an hour after heading back I stopped for a break, to drink some water, and eat half of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. It was then I noticed that the zipper on the front pocket of the pack was partly open. I opened the front pocket the rest of the way to get the sandwich and immediately looked for the car keys to my daughter’s van. “No problem”, I thought, “they’re somewhere in the pocket”. But no. They were not anywhere in the pack. I took everything in that pack out and put the contents back in 3 times. I shook the pack. No keys.

Now I was worried. We had to get back home to pick up our grandchildren at school by 3 pm. And somehow I had lost the keys on the trail – which was covered with leaves. My heart sank and I began to panic at the thought I would have to tell my daughter I had lost the keys, not only the car key but some other keys as well, including her house key.

I had walked at least a mile on the trail before I turned back. The keys must be on the trail somewhere. But how could they have fallen out? I didn’t know; all I knew was they weren’t there.

At that point I called Judy on my cell phone. She didn’t answer. Not surprising, there is poor to no coverage in the mountains. Next, I prayed. “OK, Jesus”, you know where the keys are. Show me, help me find them”. I waited a few seconds and then heard, “parking lot”. After a few minutes of wrestling with that thought, I got up and began walking back to the parking lot, saying, “Jesus, I believe. Help my unbelief”. I heard, “parking lot” several more times and began to think I really would find the keys laying on the ground in the parking lot or the trailhead at the parking lot.

But to hedge my bets I asked all the groups I passed who were walking down the trail if they had seen a set of keys on the ground. All said no.

Finally, I made it to the trailhead at the parking lot. I got Richard, who was sitting in his car, and together we looked all over the parking lot and the trailhead. No keys! “Wait a minute”, I told God, “You said I would get the keys in the parking lot”. No answer, and more importantly to me, no keys. Now I was seriously worried and felt like a failure. It was my responsibility to keep the keys and I had lost them. What a mess.

Then I heard the others coming up the trail. I assumed they had made it to the falls. I could hear the little children laughing and their parents encouraging them on the last little bit of the hike. They came into view. I motioned to my daughter and wife indicating, “Come here. I have something important to tell you”. They looked at me, worried. By now we were standing in the parking lot where the trail begins. As they walked toward me, Judy reached into her pocket and said, “I forgot to tell you I took the keys out of your pack” as she extended her hand to give the keys back to me!

After I recovered from the flood of relief that swept over me, I remembered what God had told me, “You’ll get the keys in the parking lot.” Which, of course, is exactly what happened. Just not in the way I had expected. In hindsight, it was kind of funny, although at the time I was not laughing – I was too relieved.

So what did I learn about God from that simple episode? First, I had heard God’s voice. He did care about my ‘lost’ car keys. With all the problems of the world, God was personally present in my situation and He spoke to me. Second, I had assumed one outcome and God had planned something different – an outcome I had never considered.

How often has this happened? God says He will answer a prayer. You wait for the answer, believing you know what that answer will look like. And when the outcome you expected does not occur, you are disappointed or maybe a little angry with God. “God you promised.” But then God works it out in a way you never expected. Wow! Amazing! Time to repent.

I know some Christians say that God owes us nothing. We should walk in fear and awe of God. And walking in awe of God is good. On the other hand, God loves us. He knows our problems, struggles, pain, and fears. When we bring any of these to Him in prayer, He hears us. His answer is not always what we expect and it does not always occur when we expect or want it. But, He is good. And one way or another God answers our prayers. He loves it when we come to Him with our requests – even simple requests like, “God, where are my keys?”. He likes it even more when you ask Him, “God, heal my cancer” or “fix my marriage”. “You don’t have because you don’t ask”, He tells us. What can we ask for? Anything, if we ask ‘in the name of Jesus’. And that is more than tacking the words, “In Jesus’ name” on the end of a prayer.

We walk by faith and not by sight. But every once in a while God performs some small miracle, speaks to us, and tells us, “It will be ok. Trust Me”.  He knows too often our faith depends upon Him showing up in a tangible way that says, “I am with you”.

Thankful,

John