Miracles Continue

Life is filled with apparent contradictions -what we call paradoxes.  We live our lives in pursuit of happiness, searching in all those places that we believe will logically bring us to our goal, and we discover nothing more than a momentary pleasure.  We do our best to hold on to our treasure but try as we may, time runs its course and the thrill slips through our fingers like so many ropes of sand.  We look for it in the making of money, the accumulation of property, the injection of a needle, or in the perfect Hollywood body -all in the hope of 'achieving Nirvana'.  We think we'll find it in our search for power -be it in the world of art, business or politics.  We make a stab at it by writing the perfect novel or by mastering the most powerful speech -all for the sake of being recognized and valued.  We all want to leave a legacy, something to be remembered by -be it by our children and grandchildren, or in the history books as a person of renown.  Yet, the success we all want to experience and which is often so elusive, lies before us in the simplest of paradoxes.  Jesus said it this way: "If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all." Mark 9. 35.  It makes no sense whatsoever in our little world but it is a law of the greater universe out there: The greatest happiness is experienced when we live to bless others and when we submit our wills to the will of God.  It is totally contrary to the natural course of our minds; still, nothing brings a greater sense of satisfaction and fulfillment to a person than the knowledge that someone else has been enriched by an unselfish act of kindness on our part.  The thrill is knowing that we've surrendered our plans and allowed our Creator to work out His plans in us.

If there's anything that I think I've learned and that has brought me the greatest measure of joy and happiness, it is the knowledge that God loves me as though I was the only person in His world.  It is the understanding that His goal for me is to serve a much bigger purpose than simply existing until old age gets the best of me. 

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It wasn't long after my little experience in church that I found myself standing up in front of the congregation, either reading a mission story or even offering prayer.  With every little service I found myself doing in front of people, I gained more courage.  One day, the pastor asked me to lead out in the Wednesday prayer meeting, as he would be away.  I remembered Frank telling me that when the pastor asked me to do something, I should take it as a call from God.  And so, with fear and trepidation, I consented.  To my great satisfaction, as I stood before a group who had many more years of experience in the study of the Bible, I managed to hold my own. I couldn't have been happier.

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I had a little problem where I worked.  In the Public Works Department of Sudbury, I found myself engaged in a number of different jobs.  From sweeping sidewalks, to installing culverts, I never knew from one day to the next where I would find myself.  Garbage detail was no exception.  On occasion, when a 'Sanitary Engineer' happened to be off on vacation or sick, the general foreman would pick on one of us laborers to take his place.  Believe it or not, I liked it when they asked me to work the garbage route.  It meant I would manage to finish the route in 3 or 4 hours, get paid for 11 hours, have Wednesdays off (rules of our union contract) and an increase in my hourly rate besides.

By this time, I was keeping the biblical Sabbath and trouble was brewing ahead.  While sunset was nearing the 4:30pm mark in the winter hours, indicating the beginning of Sabbath, our day at work wouldn't end until 5:00pm.  I needed to do something quick as I was determined to obey God no matter what the cost.  After a serious bout of praying, I gathered enough courage to talk to the general foreman about  it.  I had hoped he would exempt me from work before 4:30pm on Fridays.  It just so happened that I met with him while he was in conference with the other foremen under him.  Talk about an awkward situation.  He always came across as a rather gruff and mean-spirited sort of individual to begin with. As I tried to explain my situation about the Sabbath and my need to be excused from the last hour of work on Fridays, all of them looked at me as though I had gone completely wacky.  It made me so nervous, I could hardly breathe.  To my great surprise, he told me that he couldn't do anything for me and that I would have to see the department manager.  I didn't know we had such a person, but arrangements were made for me to see the department manager.  Somehow, I found myself more at ease with this man, but the answer was the same.  He showed concern for my predicament, but felt that he couldn't give me what I asked for as it would set a precedent. 

What was I to do?  I felt trapped, with no recourse before me.  The following Friday, I was working with a crew on some job which I can't seem to recall.  Just a few moments before 4:30pm came around, the boss had us pack up our things and head for the shop.  All this time, I kept thinking that I needed to be out of there by 4:30pm.  As we turned a corner not too many blocks from where I lived, I told the boss to pull over!  With a rather bewildered look on his face and questioning what I was up to, he nevertheless pulled over and I quickly stepped out of the vehicle and waved goodbye to everybody!  It was 4:30pm.

Of course, I wouldn't be able to pull this off every Friday.  But I didn't need to worry about it.   My Father had a plan.  When Monday morning came around, I half expected to be sent to the office to be fired for my little stunt on Friday, or at the very least, be reprimanded.  Instead, a laborer was needed on garbage detail and I was chosen.  Not only did I work that day on garbage detail, but the entire week.  This meant that Friday, I would be done my work by as early as 11 or 12pm.  The amazing thing about all of this is that I remained on garbage detail the entire winter allowing me to keep the Sabbath and fulfill my work responsibilities.  Every week, one garbage man or another either went on vacation or was sick for a day or two, and I was kept on for the entire season.  Only sometime in the Spring, when sunset was after 5:00pm, did they finally send me back to the shop for a different assignment.  I can only attribute it to a miracle!  This kind of thing just didn't happen!  I had experienced God's leading in a most incredible fashion!

My days with the Public Works Department were  coming to an end.  Other winters were before me and I couldn't expect God to keep the same miracle happening year after year.  (O ye of little faith!) However, there was another little issue that took place that led me to believe my time was up.  A number of times, our pay checks were delayed for one reason or another, and this made the natives restless!  While waiting for our job assignments in the lunch room, some of the bolder individuals called for a show of solidarity by having everyone who  agreed with them stand to their feet.  They were tired of excuses and decided to hold a protest.  As a Christian, I sensed that the manner in which they were dealing with the issue wasn't quite the way Jesus would have handled it.  As His child, I felt I needed to follow His example.  So, there I sat with my friends on either side of me urging me to stand up with them and join the crowd in their mob mentality.  I remained seated and felt totally vulnerable!  Talk about being scared!  I remember thinking that this had to be the end of my days there.   When the general foreman came in the room with his men, the workers refused to go to work.  A lot of bad words were exchanged and I thought to myself, "I don't belong here!" 

Shortly after this, my pastor arranged for me to meet with a publishing director.  I was about to enter the world of colporteurs. The adventure was only beginning!

My Life As It Is... Part V.