Since her husband was out of town on a business trip, Michelle was alone with her two young daughters. The family lives in a country on the other side of the world where not many people speak English. Michelle teaches English to students in that country who would like to learn it, and she took Gracie and Aria along with her to this evening class.
After coming home from teaching, Michelle was going to unlock the front door where they live and quickly discovered that she had left her wallet and house key in the taxi! Michelle and young Gracie immediately prayed, asking the Lord for help.
With little Aria strapped onto Michelle’s back, she and Gracie walked to a nearby police station. Michelle explained her problem of being locked out and asked for help to contact the taxi company. She didn’t know if the taxi was from their town or another one. She also wondered to herself if the next passenger in that taxi, or the driver himself, would play “finders, keepers” with her wallet and the money inside.
The police were not hopeful they could find the taxi. The taxi company was willing to try to find out which taxi they had been in, based on the time and area of the ride. However, after a little searching, they told Michelle there was no record matching what she could tell them. They told her to call back with better information and hung up. No help there.
Boys and girls, what would you do if you had this problem? If you had learned the Bible verse, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee” (Psalm 50:1515And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. (Psalm 50:15)), you would probably pray again, asking the Lord for help. And that’s exactly what Michelle and Gracie did. They prayed again, asking the Lord to help them find the taxi they had ridden in.
In a few minutes, the taxi company called back. They told her they found the taxi and gave Michelle the driver’s cell phone number. She quickly called the driver who didn’t sound very helpful ... until she offered a reward for finding and returning the wallet and key.
The driver called back a few minutes later, saying he had found it but there was no money inside. Michelle and Gracie gave a big cheer and then prayed again. This time they thanked the Lord Jesus for answering their prayers. Even though their money was gone, they were happier now than before the wallet and key were missing. Gracie turned to her mother and said, “God is stronger than you, Mom!”
And Gracie is right! The Lord is much, much stronger than any of us, and He is a God of love who answers prayers, sometimes very quickly. He knows exactly what our problem is even before we know we have a problem. And He delights to answer our prayers when we are trusting Him. “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He [knows] them that trust in Him” (Nahum 1:77The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him. (Nahum 1:7)).
Boys and girls, when you have a problem or are in trouble, do you pray, asking the Lord Jesus for His help? And do you remember to thank Him when He has answered your prayer? Gracie knew it was God who answered their prayers. “In the day of my trouble I will call upon Thee: for Thou wilt answer me” (Psalm 86:77In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me. (Psalm 86:7)).
ML-05/17/2015