Never stop believing. Stay strong. Maintain expectations of blessings grounded in grace. It is by faith in believing what is unseen that the answers to our prayers are constantly and continuously being facilitated. Our daily lives are full of the ingredients which will lend Promise.
On one particular day not so long ago I experienced a miracle which was dependent upon my perception of an unfavorable event. Initially a good deed done for a friend caused me to second guess my act of kindness. My thought was that maybe I shouldn’t have ever offered to help.
It was late in the evening when I received a call from my long time friend. He needed to move some appliances the following day and wished to borrow my appliance truck. The large hand truck with the strap attached was purchased in the late forties by my grandfather. I seldom lend it out. It has traditionally been an in expendable tool of mine. In fact, being that I had only been blessed with several sisters, I affectionately referred to it as my brother.
Al and I had been friends since childhood. Although he, Rodney and I had gone to different high schools we pretty much spent the majority of our teenage years with one another. I so valued our friendship that I asked him to be the best man at my wedding. We have always been there for each other in a vast variety of ways through the years. Both are the closest thing I have ever had to true brothers.
This being the case I acted without thought in assisting him with whatever he would need. This particular time I would supply him with my two wheel appliance truck. My brother was in need of my brother.
I agreed to meet him at my building the following morning. My plan was to make the most out of the mission by arriving early and doing a little cleaning while I waited for Al to arrive. Progress was well beyond expectations as the property was looking incredibly well. Several hours had passed before he arrived.
The first thing he enquired about was the large puddle that had formed along the street. “What’s up with the big puddle outside?” he asked. “Well, since we had had all that rain in the forecast over the last few weeks I decided to set the sump pump lower in the hole. I usually rest it on a large cinderblock so it does not run any longer than it has too.” Amazingly, during the “Historic Floods” my building stayed remarkably dry. Not a drop of water had entered the building. It would seem that this would be short lived because somehow after moving the pump to its original position the equipment had failed.
Two days later I returned to the store and surprisingly discovered that the parking lot was completely awash and water was exiting through the bottom of the showroom doors. Slowly I pressed my face up close and peered through the glass. I could barely believe my eyes. The first floor of the building was covered with two inches of water.
I began to think to myself, “I should have never offered to let Al borrow that appliance truck. If I just stayed home none of this would have ever happened. Why did I ever agree to help my friend?” It was in that instant that it hit me. My thinking was off. I needed to correct my wrong thinking. I needed to remain strong in my faith and confirm that God had a plan; knowing without a doubt that He would take the bad and use it for good.
I did my best to extract as much of the water as I could in order to minimize the damages. Besides, my realtor had scheduled a showing for the following day. Since I had no money to pay for the necessary services I decided that it would be best to call into work and explain to my general manager what had happened. I worked for two day extracting the water and drying the place out to the best of my abilities. It was as dry as it was going to get.
I pleaded with my realtor to reschedule, but she felt it would be best not to cancel. The showing went well with the exception of a damp box that I left in the back office which caused the buyer to feel the damp rug. She began to question if the building had water issues. I guess it was just not meant to be.
Afterwards, I decide to contact my insurance agent to let him know what had happened. I said, “Dennis, I know I am probably not covered. I have no flood insurance, but I figured it would be best to check with you regardless.” I was shocked by his answer. There was a possibility that I was covered. The ministry’s insurance policy did not cover flooding from seepage, but it did cover equipment failure and that indeed was the culprit of this unfortunate event.
Dennis told me to call my insurance company directly and tell them what had happened. A very kind man named Charlie asked me several questions about the incident. I answered candidly and was pleasantly surprised by his conclusions. We were indeed covered up to $25,000 for all damages due to the failed pump. He simply asked me to take a series of photos with my cellular phone and send them over to him. We then set up an appointment to discuss the photos in order to review the damages. Within a matter of days Disciples of Love Ministries had a check for $20,030.70.
The check came in the name of the ministry and the bank. Being that we were several months behind on our mortgage the bank agreed to endorse the check and deposit the remaining balance, after bringing us current, into our account. That was fine with us. As a matter of fact we are now one month ahead on our mortgage and slowly making the necessary improvements to our headquarters. With faith all things are possible.
The following Sunday I sat in the early morning service and heard a not so coincidental sermon that captured the essence of this experience. I contemplated God’s far reaching plan for us. I remembered my grandfather’s appliance truck and how he purchasing that one item over seventy years ago had such a crucial role in allowing our ministry to move forward today. This realization caused my heart to fill with incredible warmth and my eyes to tear. It was God’s plan.
The Intuitive Life Coach 