Every foreigner knows that a passport is like gold when traveling abroad; you protect it with as much care as you would your most valuable earthly possessions. But faith, which is proved of more worth than gold, is often, like silver, refined by fire. And my faith was definitely put to the test last night when I realized that my passport was missing.
While traveling through northwestern China with my dad and brother, we passed through an ID checkpoint that required me to show my passport. Three hours later, after arriving back at our hotel, I emptied my backpack to find that my passport was missing. My mind raced through a million possibilities – where had I last seen it? Had I put it into my pocket? Did I have it at the roadside stand that we stopped at? Had I lost it at the restaurant where we ate dinner? Where else could it be?
I realized that I had absolutely no answers to any of my questions… but I knew Who did. In an instant, God brought to mind the story of a friend of mine whose wallet had been stolen. In the authority of the Holy Spirit, he had commanded in Jesus' Name that his wallet be released and returned. A little while later, someone called him up, saying that she had found his wallet on her front lawn. It had apparently been discarded out of the window by a passing car; all of the contents were still inside the wallet.
I have no doubt that God was about to stretch my faith. Falling on my knees against my hard hotel bed, I immediately began calling out to the Lord. In His Son's Name, I called out for my passport to be returned. I asked for His grace and help to find my passport. Oddly, I still hadn't started panicking. My heart was steady and calm, an oddity for this chick whose heart tends to race when she realizes she's left her lunch card in her classroom.
I picked up the phone and called our guide, who said he would backtrace our steps, first to the vehicle we had used, then to the restaurant where we had eaten. If it wasn't there, I knew my journey would have to come to an abrupt end. But until that became a reality, I decided to just wait in faith. I sat by my bed, asking and believing in faith that my Faithful Father would come through.
Two minutes later, our guide called me back: he had found my passport at the restaurant, under the seat of the table I had been sitting at. First of all, the fact that it was still there in this busy, crowded restaurant was a miracle in and of itself. Foreign passports are perhaps even more valuable than gold in this part of the world, and it could easily have been stolen. But, by God's grace, there my passport lay in plain sight yet protected by the One whose Name is above all names.
I know I have so much more to learn about faith, and I have no doubt that He will continue to stretch me in new ways on the World Race next year. But for the time being, I am truly humbled (and amazed!) by the faithfulness of my Heavenly Father.
I pray that my faith, and the faith of my teammates, would, like the faith of the early church, continue to be purified and refined by fire, so that we would grow each in understanding that this faith He has given us is of greater value than all of the gold in the world….even passports!
