Story of God's Goodness

Do we look for opportunities where we can allow God to show himself strong in the lives of our kids? I have a wonderful story about how God did that in the life of one of the AWANA clubbers I minister to on Wednesday nights at church.

This past Wednesday night, I had a clubber and his friend come running up to me about an hour into the evening. He proceeded to tell me that his permission form for the upcoming activity that Friday night was missing along with his $5 registration. He was very concerned especially since he had saved the $5 himself and would not be able to come unless he had it.

As we were retracing his steps, I stopped and said, "We need to pray for God to help us find this money." I did hesitate to say that because I had the thought, "What if we don't find it, what will this 9 year old think about God?" Then I realized that instead of being afraid of what this boy might think if we brought God into it, what am I doing by leaving God out? God is much bigger than me, than a missing $5 bill and permission slip, or my concerns about how he appears to a 9 year old boy. So we prayed and I asked God to help us find the money and if someone had taken it, that they would return it. Then we continued looking.

We went outside to find where he had last left it which was on top of his AWANA book and Bible. Well, Wednesday night the wind was blowing in gusts up to 10-15 mph so it seemed like his form and money had probably blown off. We scoured the general area, but I really thought it was gone. And if by some chance someone had found it, they had probably pocketed the $5. We went back inside and returned to our regular duties.

At the end of the night, I was talking with this boy and his dad, and was trying to encourage the boy. He was saying that he would not be coming to the event because he could not raise the money by Friday; I was hoping that his dad would have some compassion and spot the kid $5 so he could still go. So after a final word of encouragement that God could still provide, we parted ways.

Later that night at home, my wife shared this with me. That after this boy had left, he came running back into the building. He was holding his permission slip and $5. While he was walking with his dad out to his car (in the dark in a different area of the parking lot), the wind was blowing and literally blew his permission slip and $5 right to him. He came running back in, excited about how God had provided.

Even typing this, I am moved to tears again. Not only because of God's provision for this boy, but because of my near failure to allow God to show himself strong in this situation. Many times we may want to protect children from the questions of unanswered prayer, but instead we limit what God may want to accomplish in a situation. I'm pretty sure that this boy's faith is strengthened by God's provision; I know mine is.