The local said, “The last bus to San Felix is at 6pm, so we have to make sure we are at the terminal in time to catch it”.
We said, “Yeah! No problem!”
Fast forward to 5:12pm: We are one hour away in Boquete, Panama sitting on an empty bus hoping (and praying) that we would make it to the bus terminal in time for the last bus home to San Felix at 6:00pm.
This isn’t the first time I’ve found myself in this situation…
Way back, 4 months ago, in Botswana my team and I found ourselves (after dark) trying to catch a bus from Harare, to our village 1 hour outside of the city.
This is NOT a situation you want to be in when in Harare, Botswana.
A local actually came up to us at the bus stop saying, “I’m trying to be a Good Samaritan here, please go over to the gas station (a well lit area) it’s not safe for you here.” As he finished his sentence, a man came walking up from out of the bushes behind us…
Needless to say, neither of these situations are safe, or optimal.
Yet,
God showed up in a miraculous way, making the impossible happen.
As our new friend, the Good Samaritan, finished his sentence we realized the reality of our predicament, so we quickly thanked him and turned towards the gas station. As we did, we heard the same voice calling out, “Wait! Here’s your bus!”.
Miraculously, a beautiful, brand new, EMPTY bus was waiting for us to board, with the sign in the window saying “Mochudi”. Home.
WOW. We praised God!
Now, same problem, same solution, God’s miraculous provision.
Tonight I stepped on a bus destined to San Felix at 6:40pm, 40 minuets after “the last bus”.
This means, that tonight I am not stranded in an unfamiliar city wondering where I will spend the night, and how I will get back home.
Praise God!
When you clicked on this title, you may have had the expectation of a story about someone’s sight being restored, or a leg growing out. This is not that blog.
Yet,
It is. It’s the same blog because it’s still a miracle, God once again did the impossible.
When I came on the race I expected to experience the miraculous. I believe that my God can restore sight to the blind, and grow out a person’s leg but I haven’t seen it yet.
“Yet” is faith.
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
??Hebrews? ?11:1? ?KJV??
Even though I haven’t seen the instantaneous miraculous healing I hoped to see on the race, I still believe that God can do it. In the Bible it says:
“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”
??1 Timothy? ?6:12? ?ESV??
Fight. It’s a choice to choose faith and it’s a fight to choose it over and over.
You best believe that I was fighting the whole hour-long bus ride from Boquete to David. I saw the time and I knew we would not be in David by 6:00pm. Therefore missing the 6:00 bus to our home town, San Felix. Knowing all these things, I prayed continually, asking God to provide. Thanking him for the provision I believed he would give us.
However, it’s not called a fight for no reason, there is opposition. I came against worry, and fear of what we would do if we didn’t make it to San Felix tonight. Then there was the guilt I felt for losing track of time and feeling responsible for getting to the bus late. I was experiencing the opposition, but actively choosing faith over fear.
It’s never a matter of if God can, but instead if we have faith to trust him.
Faith is fact based.
The fact is I had absolutely no control over when the buses would leave and arrive, but God did. Sure, he could have used other methods to accomplish the same goal but the reality is that he wanted me to write this blog.
So here I am, in San Felix, Panama so thankful to be safely delivered home. This is yet another day where God proved to be who he says he is.
