At the time of this story, my family and I lived in France. That particular day, I happened to leave my handbag in the car and, you guessed it, it got stolen. I was distraught but somehow felt this assurance from the Lord that I would get it back.
I went to the Police station and reported it but my handbag hadn’t been handed in. I phoned the ‘Lost and Found’ but to no avail. Yet, deep down, I knew God would give it back to me.
However, after a few weeks of waiting, enquiring and waiting some more, it was becoming clear that I wasn’t getting it back. I started doubted myself. Had I imagined this assurance? What was God doing?
Months passed. That’s when I lost something else. I asked the Lord for His help in recovering it. Instantly, I felt the Holy Spirit showing me that I’d become rather resentful towards the Lord about not getting my handbag back. Wow! What a shock! I apologised to the Lord for being angry at Him. The next minute, I found what I’d lost.
But this is not the end of the story. Years passed. We’d even moved to another country. We were now living in Scotland. One day, I got a phone call from my Mum, who was still in France. She told me that the Police had raided a house and found hundreds of handbags. Mine was among them. They had traced it back to her somehow. Everything was still in it apart from the little cash I had carried in it. Mum was sending it over to me.
That’s when I realised the amplitude of the Lord’s faithfulness! He will do what He has said He would but in His time! There are no limitations of time or anything else to His faithfulness. If He said it, He will do it.
The most miraculous part of this story is not that I got my handbag back. It was that I understood God is faithful above all else and we can count on Him one hundred percent. What a faith booster! This lesson has been invaluable over the years. Since that surprising answer to prayer, I know that He is someone we can totally rely on and trust no matter what.
The second important lesson I had to learn was that things happen on His time. And it is always the perfect time. Our minds are too small to understand the magnitude of His love, but He wants us to grasp it more and more. Day by day, He teaches us that we can let go of our limited understanding and put our full trust in Him. He has our back at all times.
Links from my blogging friends who have also written about prayer:
A Van, A Drama, A Prayer by Nola Lorraine
Surprises in Prayer by Susan Barnes
What We Really Need by Dienece Darling