“On Hold...” We live in a fast-paced world. Time is fleeting and the things that cause delay are not always the things we tend to be thankful for. Well, I don’t anyway. I often find that God works on a different timetable than I do. It was the beginning of March 2020. The COVID19 pandemic had shut down our state. People were in almost a panic as items seemed to disappear from store shelves, jobs were in jeopardy, and many were told to wait. Waiting is hard. I like to be more of a person of action.
Sensing the urgency, I thought our church food bank would be a good resource during these times, not to mention a great way to reach people with the Hope of Jesus Christ! I decided to call up our county health department to find out if and how we could do this during these times. What I had envisioned was in about one hour we would be planning our next food bank ministering to our community.
Here is the reality of it… I ended up the first day being on the phone five hours, speaking to well over fifteen people, sitting on hold, and explaining our desire over and over. Day two, presented seven more hours of the same. I spoke with person after person who all were pleased by our gesture but could not give direction in how we should proceed. Instead, after sharing each time I was placed on hold to be transferred to the next person. I remember one time on hold talking to God expressing frustration with Him for allowing this waste of time when there was ministry to do. By the end of the second day, over thirty county officials knew who I was, had my cell number, and we finally had direction on how to proceed with distributing food.
A couple weeks later I had to come to God to apologize. Because of being placed on hold over and over, talking with so many various people, transferred all over our county offices, God did something I never expected. He glorified and exalted His name in such a powerful way. The county was now directing people to call me and our church to find Hope in this difficult time. In the next ten weeks over 100 people would be directed to my cell to hear the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Over twenty county officials would call back wanting to know what this hope is that we were proclaiming. What seemed like a waste of time being on the phone and on hold for twelve hours ended up being a catalyst for an amazing work of God! Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” Let’s pause and thank God for those delays in life that are His divine appointments!
Comments