God is in the Details

Have you ever had something happen or been a part of something you just don't understand? Something that makes you just keep asking why? 

If you hang around with people who are Christians, you might have heard the phrase "God works good in all things." Or concepts like, "it may just not be about you but for some reason you are a part of it." Well here is a story that exemplifies those very ideas.

Almost 3 years ago, my friend Shelley and I were on a long training run downtown real early on a Saturday. As we made our way down to the waterfront, we encountered some odd people, transients, and they seemed a little more vocal than normal. This details is important because it lead us to the decision that put us in the middle of something we have since longed to understand. Anyway, when we made it to the waterfront, we had a choice to cross the Steel Bridge and run on the west side or stay where we were and run on the east side. The West side is "nicer" but where we were crossing is also where a lot of people sleep. And given the few we'd already encountered, I thought it best to stay east and end on the west. We were about 3/4 of a mile down the east side when my friend screamed at me and practically jumped into my arms. I looked at where she was pointing half expecting to see an alligator coming out of the water...or a rabid dog. What I saw was a man washed up on the rocks. I knew immediately we were looking at the man who had accidentally driven off the Marquam bridge. Neither of us had cell phones but I knew we were half a mile from Central Precinct so we ran directly there and brought back officers. All of the details are so important because had we had cell phones, we would have dialed 911. Because we went directly to the police, they were able to use closed communications, sparing the family further media coverage. 

Weeks and months went by. My friend suffered from Post Traumatic Stress from what she saw...when she saw him it took some time before she realized what she was seeing, so it was deeply imbedded in her mind. She saw him in her sleep. She hurt for him and his family. We researched the accident and were able to find a picture of him with his sons to replace the image of the man in the water. We learned he had a family. We learned his name. And so we were able to focus our prayers in that way. But we still wanted to know why we had to be the ones to find him. We knew God had a reason. We also knew that we might never know in this lifetime. We submitted to feeling honored and compelled to pray for his family. 

Yesterday I had lunch with the mother of one of my son's classmates; a little boy that had captivated me with his blue eyes, bright smile and sensitive spirit. I knew his father had died in an accident, but I wasn't sure how or when...so yesterday I asked. When she told me that it was in the news and when it was, my mouth dropped. She said that they found him a week later. I told her that the "they" was me and my friend. She too was floored. But here is the thing...the details that God knew. The why to our question. This boy's mom said that it would bring him great comfort to know his friends mom found his dad. She was comforted in knowing how much we had prayed for him, her and her son. She understood how God worked all the details in how we found help to give them peace from the media who had been so brutal in their "assumptions" and sensationalism the week before. 

When you pray for someone, even if it is someone you don't even know, they have touched your heart. To see the fruit of one's prayers for a stranger is mind blowing. Never is it necessary to see this fruit, but it is such a gift when you do. This boy struck a cord with me long before I knew this connection and now I know why...because he had been bathed in my prayer and he lingered in my heart. And he is now my son's friend. And I am just in AWE of how God is in ALL of the details. He filters the light of His love in even the darkest of circumstances. If you haven't seen that, perhaps you haven't looked. If there is something you are struggling with, especially those "why" things, know that it wasn't just by chance and look for Him to show you why in His time. There are so many more reasons why the timing of all of this happening now is significant, but I do not fully understand them now and I think it is best not to speculate and just let God reveal it in His perfect way and time. 

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:26-26