Story Time: Prayers & Answers
Story Time!
A while back a couple of coworkers and I decided to do something special for a friend's birthday, which for mei guo ren (Americans) often means going to a restaurant that serves Western food. You can totally find almost any American "comfort food" here in China (peanut butter, Nutella, Frosted Flakes, Pringles, Heinz Ketchup, notice how my list is basically all junk food...), but it does come at a price. An expensive price. As such I often don't buy a lot of imported Western food (which is probably also better for my health as well as my bank account), but when it's a friend's birthday, hey, why not for one night?
But I digress...
This particular Western-style restaurant was actually run by some foreign friends, so it's not knock-off versions of hamburgers and fries. That night we came in sort of late, so we were the only three customers there. We were just flipping through the menu at our table when the restaurant owner suddenly looked up from her computer and asked if any of us were good with the Microsoft Office Suite. PowerPoint was her particular problem and, conveniently, my particular skillset.
So I jogged over to see what she needed help with. She had a long PowerPoint presentation basically all ready to go except for a few little problems: two of her slides had tables with sizing and color problems, and the text color was too light to be read against the background.
Super easy to fix. I could almost do it in my sleep.
I mean, unless the presentation's made on PowerPoint 2000 on an equally ancient PC with all of the commands and tabs in Chinese.
I remember taking one look at all the Chinese characters coating an interface that was kind of familiar but not one I'd specifically dealt with since I was seven, and all I could do was pray in my head: "LORD, help me do this."
And He definitely did. It took about half an hour, but eventually everything was properly formatted and I had even been able to explain the process so the owner could do it on her own next time. It was a very clear answer to a helpless prayer. And, I must say, it definitely gave me a greater appreciation for the newest edition of the Office Suite.
But God didn't just answer my quick prayer that day. After we had solved all of the problems with the PowerPoint, the restaurant owner turned to me and explained that in the very moment she had prayed for someone who understood PowerPoint to help her, I had shown up.
God answers my prayers, no matter how insignificant I may think they are in the grand scheme of the universe. Sometimes God uses me to answer someone else's prayers, no matter how easy of a problem it may seem to fix. And that's pretty mind-boggling that God cares that much about His people. Nothing's too insignificant for Him.
But that's the Christian life and the wai guo ren life: blessings, surprises, opportunities, and reminders around every corner. It's good to know that the God of the universe is with me wherever I go, in whatever I do, and with whoever I interact with yesterday, today, and every day following.
Your prayers aren't insignificant. Your problems aren't too small for God to care about. He doesn't have "better things to do" than to talk to you. He's not a genie, but He is your Heavenly Father and fathers love their children. I pray that God uses this story to encourage you in some way today.
See you next weekend!
A while back a couple of coworkers and I decided to do something special for a friend's birthday, which for mei guo ren (Americans) often means going to a restaurant that serves Western food. You can totally find almost any American "comfort food" here in China (peanut butter, Nutella, Frosted Flakes, Pringles, Heinz Ketchup, notice how my list is basically all junk food...), but it does come at a price. An expensive price. As such I often don't buy a lot of imported Western food (which is probably also better for my health as well as my bank account), but when it's a friend's birthday, hey, why not for one night?
But I digress...
This particular Western-style restaurant was actually run by some foreign friends, so it's not knock-off versions of hamburgers and fries. That night we came in sort of late, so we were the only three customers there. We were just flipping through the menu at our table when the restaurant owner suddenly looked up from her computer and asked if any of us were good with the Microsoft Office Suite. PowerPoint was her particular problem and, conveniently, my particular skillset.
So I jogged over to see what she needed help with. She had a long PowerPoint presentation basically all ready to go except for a few little problems: two of her slides had tables with sizing and color problems, and the text color was too light to be read against the background.
Super easy to fix. I could almost do it in my sleep.
I mean, unless the presentation's made on PowerPoint 2000 on an equally ancient PC with all of the commands and tabs in Chinese.
I remember taking one look at all the Chinese characters coating an interface that was kind of familiar but not one I'd specifically dealt with since I was seven, and all I could do was pray in my head: "LORD, help me do this."
And He definitely did. It took about half an hour, but eventually everything was properly formatted and I had even been able to explain the process so the owner could do it on her own next time. It was a very clear answer to a helpless prayer. And, I must say, it definitely gave me a greater appreciation for the newest edition of the Office Suite.
But God didn't just answer my quick prayer that day. After we had solved all of the problems with the PowerPoint, the restaurant owner turned to me and explained that in the very moment she had prayed for someone who understood PowerPoint to help her, I had shown up.
God answers my prayers, no matter how insignificant I may think they are in the grand scheme of the universe. Sometimes God uses me to answer someone else's prayers, no matter how easy of a problem it may seem to fix. And that's pretty mind-boggling that God cares that much about His people. Nothing's too insignificant for Him.
But that's the Christian life and the wai guo ren life: blessings, surprises, opportunities, and reminders around every corner. It's good to know that the God of the universe is with me wherever I go, in whatever I do, and with whoever I interact with yesterday, today, and every day following.
Your prayers aren't insignificant. Your problems aren't too small for God to care about. He doesn't have "better things to do" than to talk to you. He's not a genie, but He is your Heavenly Father and fathers love their children. I pray that God uses this story to encourage you in some way today.
See you next weekend!
Soli Deo Gloria!
- Chrisi -
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