Not Now, God. I’m Busy.

Someone once said “God offers the greatest opportunities at the most inconvenient moments.” That’s way too stinkin’ true. And sometimes God gives opportunities even when I ABSOLUTELY do not want them.  

A few years ago, I had the chance to attend a large writer’s conference in Colorado Springs. I was pretty excited. At the time, it was the first such conference I had attended. I got up early the morning of my flight and bounced over to the airport ready to go. As soon as I reached the check-in area, the attendant grabbed my excitement, crumpled it up into a little ball, threw it on the ground, and jumped on it with both feet. Several flights had been cancelled and there was no way I could reach my destination on time. To get there at all on the same day I would have to be rerouted several times, arrive in Denver, and take a two-hour cab ride to Colorado Springs. It was going to be a long day.

Ten hours and several layovers later, I arrived in Denver exhausted and annoyed, and began searching for a cab. The first few were spoken for. Then I heard a gentleman with a thick accent yell from behind me, “Need a ride?” I jumped in and he agreed to be my chaeuffer for the next two hours. Ah, the end was finally in sight, and I was looking forward to resting (and sulking in my troubles) for the last two hours of my travel day from h-e-double-hockey-sticks.

My driver, Abdu (whose actual name was 11 letters long and completely incomprehensible) was from the Middle East. I noticed some Arabic writing hanging from his mirror, so I inquired. As soon as the question fell out of my mouth, I regretted asking it. The writing was a quote from the Koran. Abdu(shiffatmonmorkankowitzenhower) was a devout Muslim. He quickly found out that I was a Christian, and I quickly found out that, during this final leg of my trip, rest would not be an option.

Right before picking me up, Abdu had been reading (apparently while driving) an Arabic article comparing Jesus and Mohammed. He knew little of Christianity, but was curious. For two hours we exchanged information and I had the divine opportunity to explain Jesus to him. The whole idea of God giving His life for us was totally foreign to Abdu. I reluctantly thanked the Lord for allowing me to share, even though I hadn’t felt like sharing.

Abdu wasn’t converted to Christianity, but a seed was undoubtedly planted in his life. I wasn’t in any sort of mood to be open to the Spirit that evening, but God didn’t seem to care. He decided to use me anyway, despite my deep objections. I wish God would have simply let me sit in the back seat of that taxi sulking in the sorrow of my long and aggravating day, but apparently He wasn’t concerned with my momentary inconvenience.

He had bigger concerns.

If you like this (or even if you didn’t, actually, especially if you didn’t) read these:
It’s Okay To Trust In God: a testimony of faith and healing
When Faith Gets Messy
Theology By Nightlight
Predictably Unpredictable

2 Replies to “Not Now, God. I’m Busy.”

  1. For me to feel comfortable commenting on this post, I need to believe in the possibility that you think I stumbled upon this as I was earnestly searching for a quote for a WWM article using the keywords Mohammed, hockey sticks, and shiffatmonmorkankowitzenhower.

    It could happen.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*