From the Book Of DIFY
God works in mysterious ways. You never know when or how He is going to show up in your life. Here are a couple of examples that happened to me.
Lately, I have had a couple of occasions where people have been ducking and diving around me. While I was attending my first and only prayer meeting at the church, which they hold on Wednesday evenings, At the beginning the fellow running the meeting went around the room and asked everyone if they were praying for something in particular. The most common response was for work.
So, after thinking about it for a minute, I came up with an idea to raffle off a car for the church. Not only could we raise much-needed funds for the church, but we could also put many people to work.
So, I went to work putting it together. I had spent several days exhausting what seemed like every avenue for a vehicle. I had waited to meet managers and owners but no one wanted to get involved with a church. I waited patiently at one dealership for over 2 hours and the manager still wouldn’t see me, even after I returned one of his client’s wallets, that I had found in my chair.
After several days of incessant no’s, I had gotten so desperate that I ended up going into the local Harley Davidson Dealership to see if they were interested in helping out the local church. After I introduced myself and conveyed what I was there for, the girl at the front counter went into the office to tell the manager/owner about me.
Here was the first case of diving I experienced firsthand. The owner didn’t think I saw him, but I did from the corner of my eye. And I watched him as he dove under his desk and remained there until I left. The young lady returned to the front and told me that he was out, with a look of embarrassment on her face.
Finally, I came down to my last hope, Ludovic, from the local BMW dealership who came through for me in the end. I had tried to meet him originally but he was away on vacation and BMW seemed unobtainable. I had no choice, I was out of other options,
I had visited many different dealerships and all had turned me down flat. I had gotten Ludovic’s business card earlier when I was doing the rounds and had gone by his dealership. I had no choice there was no one else, I prayed I could get hold of him and then convince him to help.
I had left several messages for Ludovic and when he got back to me, I knew I had only one chance. I took my best shot and it was only after I said, “How about doing a solid for God” that he chuckled and agreed to help. He offered me whatever I needed. I was extremely grateful, needless to say.
Unfortunately, after a couple of months of waiting, the church committee finally got around to it and decided that a raffle was not appropriate for the church. So, I set that idea aside and informed and thanked Ludovic for his time and his generous offer to help.
There was also another ducking and diving incident that happened near me. It happened at work. I had left for a while and my old boss called me one evening and was pleading for me to come back. I had left and went back to sales but I always liked the freedom that the job allowed me. So, after the promise of a raise and some other concessions, including, me not working on Sundays, the Sabbath. I agreed to return.
I did like working close to home, I could check on mom and my brothers and sister at any time and could even stop at home to use the washroom. I also believed that God wanted me there. I was working alongside people from all around the world. I was learning about their cultures and picking up words and phrases in different languages.
The money wasn’t great but it was enough and I had had enough of sales. I quit my sales job the day I returned to work after the holidays, directly after my epiphany. Even after I quit, I was still getting one or two sales job offers a week for a long while, but I had made up my mind, I was done with sales.
It wasn’t long before I began to work more and more Sundays, either filling in for the regular fellow or coming in because the restaurant was very busy. It all came to a head one day and I put my foot down. I told my boss that I could no longer work on Sundays, that it was the Sabbath and a sin and pleaded with him not to ask me to work on Sundays again. He shrugged his shoulders and agreed.
The following Sunday, my phone rang, it was my boss, and yes, you probably guessed it. He was calling to tell me that I had to go in. I went in reluctantly and worked.
The next morning, as he was opening the restaurant as he usually did. He described what happened next. As he turned on the pizza oven, he smelled gas. He was still shaking hours later when he said how close he had come to being blown up.
The gas line to the oven had become disconnected and the gas was flowing out and could have easily ignited from the flame on either the fryer or the grill. So, when he ran and dove to hit the breaker switch and turn off the gas. He said he had reached and shut off the gas supply just in time.
It was only a little later in the day that I suggested, kind of jokingly, that maybe it was a sign from God, and I once again asked him, “Please, do not call me in on Sundays. He never did call me to work on Sunday again.
L