I got a call from a buddy yesterday and we talked about finding something out at church. About an hour later I returned a call to another buddy and instead of getting connected to him all I got was a recording saying, “This phone has been disabled!” I thought it was some kind of joke or maybe I’d been hacked in some crazy way. I
kept calling and resetting my phone and the same message kept coming up. It was useless! My plan and my phone came from Walmart, so I diverted and headed to where I had purchased my cell. I have to admit that my prayer was simply “God…why are you allowing this to happen? I have so much to do this day!” I walked into the store and to the section where the cellphones were and there was a tech who was ready to help me. He got my phone and it took him almost an hour to get everything he needed from my service provider, and he told me what he thought had happened. He said that as best he could figure, this service was raising their monthly rate
by almost 50% and instead of notifying you of the increase, they just shut down your phone! He asked me what I wanted to do. I told him that I needed to just get back so I can communicate with people again. He said that a major carrier had a plan now that was at the same rate I had been paying for the last years and he could set me up with that if I wanted it. And so, he spent more time just getting me out of one and into another. My phone is probably 5 or 6 years old, and he looked at it and then at me and said, “Do you want to buy a new phone to replace this one?” I thought, ok, this is where I pay up for all the help I just got. I asked him what he had. He said “Well, we are trying to get rid of a model that is much newer than yours but is last year’s model. I have one left and it is $9.00.” I told him I’m in! He started the setup of the phone, and we went over to pay for it. He swiped it and looked at me and said “Uh…I got the price wrong.” My heart just sank again and so I politely asked what it would cost me and said, “Your new cell phone rings up at $3.14.” I asked him to repeat that, and he laughed and told me again. I gladly paid the cost, with all the taxes, $3.68 for my new upgraded phone with the same priced service. God and I had a talk in the car…I apologized and thanked him for taking care of me when I had no idea what I really needed. There are going to be a lot of times in life when you and I don’t see at first or maybe even ever what God is doing and what he is providing for us or what he is protecting us from. The Apostle Paul wrote the early Christians in the city of Rome a letter that made it into the Bible and in that he said that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose. Sometimes it won’t be seen as clearly as what happened to me yesterday but remember when things go haywire in your life and you see no rhyme or reason to it, remember that God is still out there working in that setting. Give God a chance. I hope you will get to see what might be the “why” of what happened…but even if you don’t remember that if you are following God…he is on your side. Trust him, thank him and keep on following his lead. He will make your crisis count for something good…if you will let him. Here’s our Bible verse for today…
Romans 8:28 NLT And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
Remember I’m praying for you…
PJ
kept calling and resetting my phone and the same message kept coming up. It was useless! My plan and my phone came from Walmart, so I diverted and headed to where I had purchased my cell. I have to admit that my prayer was simply “God…why are you allowing this to happen? I have so much to do this day!” I walked into the store and to the section where the cellphones were and there was a tech who was ready to help me. He got my phone and it took him almost an hour to get everything he needed from my service provider, and he told me what he thought had happened. He said that as best he could figure, this service was raising their monthly rate
by almost 50% and instead of notifying you of the increase, they just shut down your phone! He asked me what I wanted to do. I told him that I needed to just get back so I can communicate with people again. He said that a major carrier had a plan now that was at the same rate I had been paying for the last years and he could set me up with that if I wanted it. And so, he spent more time just getting me out of one and into another. My phone is probably 5 or 6 years old, and he looked at it and then at me and said, “Do you want to buy a new phone to replace this one?” I thought, ok, this is where I pay up for all the help I just got. I asked him what he had. He said “Well, we are trying to get rid of a model that is much newer than yours but is last year’s model. I have one left and it is $9.00.” I told him I’m in! He started the setup of the phone, and we went over to pay for it. He swiped it and looked at me and said “Uh…I got the price wrong.” My heart just sank again and so I politely asked what it would cost me and said, “Your new cell phone rings up at $3.14.” I asked him to repeat that, and he laughed and told me again. I gladly paid the cost, with all the taxes, $3.68 for my new upgraded phone with the same priced service. God and I had a talk in the car…I apologized and thanked him for taking care of me when I had no idea what I really needed. There are going to be a lot of times in life when you and I don’t see at first or maybe even ever what God is doing and what he is providing for us or what he is protecting us from. The Apostle Paul wrote the early Christians in the city of Rome a letter that made it into the Bible and in that he said that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose. Sometimes it won’t be seen as clearly as what happened to me yesterday but remember when things go haywire in your life and you see no rhyme or reason to it, remember that God is still out there working in that setting. Give God a chance. I hope you will get to see what might be the “why” of what happened…but even if you don’t remember that if you are following God…he is on your side. Trust him, thank him and keep on following his lead. He will make your crisis count for something good…if you will let him. Here’s our Bible verse for today…
Romans 8:28 NLT And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
Remember I’m praying for you…
PJ