It was one of those kind of days for my teammate, Bethany. We were in the process of preparing for our departure from South Africa and half of our team was away for PVT, so the mood was already seasoned with a hint of sullen sentimentality. We were getting in some of our last goodbyes to the brothers and sisters we had met in our time there and Bethany’s husband, Derek, had planned to meet up with our host that month, Hendrik, to have one last good conversation over coffee.
And that’s when the UNTHINKABLE HAPPENED! (dun! dun! DUUUUNNNN!)
…Bethany’s iPhone diOkay, okay, so you might be thinking, “That’s a tough break but not the end of the world.” Usually that’s true, but tech problems on the field are not an easy fix most times. And when all your information is on your phone, that makes it all the worse.
Now fortunately, THANKFULLY, we were staying in the city that month, so a mall with an Apple Store wasn’t too hard to find. BUT in order to make it to the store meant that Derek and Hendrik had to change their plans. Being the grace-filled men of God that they are, they were able and happy to accommodate.
So while they were in the cafe, Bethany and I went to the Apple Store to see about fixing her phone.
Now her phone was displaying a message stating that all she needed to do was to have her phone reset. An easy fix, right? Well, not according to the tech at the Apple Store, who told us that 1) she wasn’t qualified to fix it and 2) we had to schedule an appointment to get it checked. Well, when you only have one more day left and you have to prepare to leave the country, there isn’t much room for appointment-making. But with little other option she made the appointment.
Having time to burn, I suggested we find a café to wait for Derek and Hendrik to finish their conversation. Well, find one we did, and with drink in hand we found a table and “sat a spell”.
Now respecting the both of us as well as your time I won’t go too much into the contents of the conversation. Suffice to say, however, that the conversation was fruitful. It was a time where God was invited into and filled us both up spiritually and spoke truth into the discourse as we traded words and wisdom He placed within us to speak.
It wasn’t long, though, until it was time to head back to meet up with the guys. We finished our drinks and started back.
But we didn’t get too far, because before we knew it we heard a voice closing fast behind us, shouting, “Wait! Stop!”
My heart froze. I turned around and saw coming up behind Bethany and I a worker from the café. My first thought was, of course, that we had forgotten something or our money somehow turned up counterfeit– worrisome things like that, you know?
She stops just short of crashing into us.
To our surprise, she begins by saying, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to listen in on you two back there, but I couldn’t help myself.”
“Oh, uh, well, that’s okay.” was about the best retort we had at a glance.
She went on.
“You see, I… I willingly walked away from the Lord about a year ago. But, after hearing everything you two were talking about back there… I want to– I’ve DECIDED to return to my relationship with Jesus!”
Flabbergasted? That would be an understatement for our reaction. Overjoyed? Well, that too falls short of what we were experiencing in that moment!
But let me make a point of this. NONE of that would have happened if Bethany’s phone hadn’t died, plans gotten shaken up, hopes to repair it dashed, and good if at times tough conversation hadn’t happened. And if you ask me I wouldn’t be surprised if Satan had a hand in those troubles. As I’ve been reminded the last couple months, Satan can’t defeat us, but that won’t deter him from trying to distract us. I think Satan had in his mind the desire to distract us right in the midst of us saying our goodbyes and preparing for what was ahead. Times of transition are ideal to disorient a person. But God, being the good, good Father that He is, turned it into an opportunity for good!
He used that no good, terrible day as an instrument to redeem a woman’s life! Wow God? Oh yeah!
“Therefore, brethren, let us not grow weary of doing good. For in due season we will reap a harvest if we do not lose hope.”
