Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5
Today we will be looking at the curious case of Peter Smith. Peter was a hard working fellow who always managed to do everything on schedule or ahead of schedule. He was also a God fearing man who prayed with regularity. He was married to a nice lady, had 3 kids who loved him and they all lived in a great big house. The only discomfort in life was an hour long train ride he took every day to work and back home.
It was a Friday, right before Labor Day weekend and he had an appointment to meet with his daughter’s teacher concerning her desire to participate in an after school program. Peter gave great importance to his daughter and did not want to be late or miss that appointment. However at the last minute his Supervisor came in and dropped one last report on his lap. He says to Peter, “We need this done before you leave, it can’t wait for Tuesday.” Peter was furious but understood the urgency. He thought to himself “I don’t like to rush but perhaps I can still make the appointment. He made a quick prayer “Lord help me to be quick and allow me to make that appointment.” Peter was so glad when he realized the ease in which he got it done. He printed it out and was half way down the hall way when he realized an error. “How is that possible?” he thought to himself. “No problem I’ll just bring up the file, make the quick change, print and I am out of here.” He ran back and started looking for the file. He couldn’t find it. After much frustration and too much time wasted, he found it. Soon after, he was out the door. However Mr. Smith was now just too late. He ran to the station in hopes of making his train, only to watch it leave. He thought to himself “I had it done. I could have made it and I even prayed about it. God let me down.” However his troubles were just beginning.
Ten minutes later the next train pulled into the station. Peter took his seat and began to hope again. Perhaps there was still a chance. But the train just sat there. Why wasn’t it moving? He got up and looked around. His frustration started to grow again. Then over the loud speaker he heard it. The train was being held due to trouble on the track. A few minutes later it got worst. The announcement was devastating to Peter. “We apologize to our passengers, however due to unforeseen events the train line has been temporarily put out of service. If any of our passengers need assistance in finding alternative travel arrangements please see our front desk. Our Front desk will also provide you with a full refund for your expenses.”
Peter just about had enough. He stormed out of the train car and went straight to the front desk. He demanded an explanation. That’s when he got the horrific news. The previous train had suffered a derailment and was still blocking the tracks. Several passengers were fatally wounded and many others were in critical condition.
He had been angry with God for missing the train. Now the anger was replaced with sadness for those passengers that were killed and so many that were hurt. He of course realized that was supposed to be his train. What would have happened to him? Sometimes when you don’t get what you want it’s better.
There is nothing wrong with asking God for what you want. Jesus taught that we should persist in prayer for all our needs and wants. We should not lose faith even when much time passes by. Sometimes God’s answer is wait and we think it’s no. However, when God does say no, we should still be thankful.
He knows all things. What we think is best for our lives may actually be the worst. Pray with faith, never give up hope, and trust God regardless of what His answer is.
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