Do you ever really need something and ask for God’s help? I’m not talking about the really big stuff, but the little everyday kind of things. If you’re anything like me, you’ve lost your wallet or your keys on occasion. You usually have that moment of freaking out a little bit followed by being upset at yourself for being irresponsible. During those times I usually try to stop myself and relax and just pray something like “God you’re all knowing and you know where my wallet/keys are, please help me to remember where I left them or show me where someone else moved them to or what hole they fell into.” Typically God answers those prayers and I find what I’m looking for. I’m so grateful that He loves me enough to care about the little things.
When I signed up to come on the World Race I prayed for moments when I would have to totally rely on God or fail. He has provided me with many of those moments and situations, some more serious than others. Last month I had one of those less serious moments…
My teammates and I were out on an epic scooter adventure. Don’t laugh there is such a thing and this was it! We rented 4 scooters and were riding around on this beautiful island trying to find a waterfall. We drove right past it the first time and ended up driving up to a sweet golf course. It was then we realized we had gone too far and needed to backtrack, but we eventually found the path to the waterfall. On our walk to the waterfall we saw some monkeys along the way that tried to steal our lunch. We fought them off, swam in the water, jumped off some rocks, had lunch, and were on our way to visit a beach when one of the members of our scooter gang fell behind.
I looped back to find out what the problem was as I prayed that there hadn’t been an accident. About that time I see my teammate Jenni sitting on her scooter on the side of the road. I roll up beside her and she says, “I’m out of gas.” We brainstorm ideas and I decide I’m going to ride down the road and check out a couple of places to see if I can find any, but I was unsuccessful. I was told the closest gas station was about 20 minutes away. Another member of our scooter gang went to find a straw to use to try to siphon some gas into her mouth and spit it into the empty tank. That’s a true leader willing to sacrifice for the team, but it was a terrible idea and had she tried, we would have had bigger problems than an empty gas tank on our hands. Luckily one of our other scooter gang members was there and talked her out of it. I came back and found out that everyone had been unsuccessful in our quests for gas.
I decided to head in the other direction and go to the golf course we had previously discovered. I figured they had to have some gas somewhere for their equipment, so I rode back to it. When I got there, I talked to some guys doing construction by the course mostly in broken English, grunts and sign language to try to explain to them that I need gas for my friend’s scooter. They sort of point me in a direction and said something about a maintenance shed. Now we’re getting somewhere. I rode my scooter down the cart path and started praying. “God please help me find some gas. You know where there’s someone with gas around here and I just ask that you would provide and direct my path”. As I’m finishing my prayer I see a sand path and a wooden building. I drive back there and find some guys in the building. I do my broken English, grunt, and sign language routine again and they figure out what I need. Petro! (aka gas) I give them an empty water bottle and they hook me up. I try to pay them and they say no. I thank them and off I go.
I roll up behind a few cars and see my team divided on either side of the road waving at the cars to try to get someone to stop. I pull up and look at them with a straight face trying to drag out the suspense a little longer and then I yell out “I got gas!” We all celebrated and jump around. I told them the story of how God provided, we dumped the gas in and went on with our journey towards the beach. It was a great day and one of my favorite adventures on the Race so far. I’m so thankful that God answers our prayers, no matter how big or small. He loves us, He is all-knowing and he is our provider (Jehovah Jireh)! I challenge you next time you’re in a stressful situation instead of worrying or freaking out to pray instead.
Philippians 4:6-7 – Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
