CHRISTIAN SENSE
BY TOM SMIKOSKI
A
publication devoted to making sense out of the twenty-first
century.
FINANCIAL MIRACLE
By: JOAN WESTER ANDERSON (http://joanwanderson.com/mailinglist.htm)
Kathy's family of four had lived comfortably on two incomes until she became
ill and could not work. "Things went downhill fast," she says. "Before we
knew it, we had sold every 'toy' we owned-my husband's small hunting
trailer, the row boat, even our telescope." But Kathy's medical bills and
other debts kept mounting. Worse, they had two vehicles that were almost
paid off---but they could no longer make those payments either.
One day a collector phoned to warn Kathy that both vehicles were going to be
repossessed. "But they're both almost paid off," Kathy protested. Yes, the
collector told her, but if she couldn't make the payments, the cars would
have to be picked up. "I couldn't let that happen-not when they were almost
ours---so I phoned our life insurance agent, and asked to have our policy
cashed in." The agency sent Kathy the paperwork, and she filled it out and
sent it back.
A week passed, and then the car dealership contacted Kathy, demanding
payment or the cars within three days. Upset, Kathy phoned the agency to
ask when the life insurance check would be ready. "Oh," the secretary said,
"those transactions take at least two weeks, usually longer."
"Two weeks!" Kathy gasped. "I need the money today." She explained the
family's dilemma, and the secretary was very sympathetic. But there was
nothing she could do to speed things up. When Kathy hung up, she put her
face in her hands and wept. Between her illness and the bills, life had
become overwhelming, and the only thing she could think of to do was to
pray. Of course she believed that God could help her-but where was He?
Her small children came into the room. "What's the matter, Mommy?" one of
them asked.
Kathy looked up. She hated to burden them with adult problems. And
yet.didn't the Bible say that children's angels always behold the face of
the Father? If she asked her children to pray with her---something she had
never done before---could the angels carry their prayers to God very
quickly?
Kathy explained to her children that the family was having some trouble, and
everyone-even them---needed to pray. The children seemed honored by their
mother's request. Quickly they knelt and folded their little hands.
"Please, God," they raised their voices in perfect confidence, "help Mommy
and Daddy."
Slowly, Kathy felt a ten-ton weight lifting from her shoulders. Her mind
seemed peaceful, steadier than it had been in weeks. Could the prayers of
children do all this? Were their angels, even now, petitioning the heavenly
throne? "Just as we stood up," Kathy says, "the phone started to ring."
Not another bill collector! But when Kathy answered, she was astonished.
It was the sympathetic secretary from the insurance office. "I don't know
how this happened," the lady began, "and in all my years here, it never has
before. But I made a call to the accounting department after we talked, and
your check is being mailed today. You should have it in time to pay off your
cars."
"Oh!" Kathy was speechless. But when she hung up, she and the children
got down on their knees again, this time in gratitude. It was true, Kathy
realized; hard times DO focus our attention on God.
Kathy and her husband manage their money more carefully today. They know
that prudence and self-discipline are their responsibilities. But now,
"Whenever we need something, material or otherwise, we don't hesitate to
pray together," Kathy says. "We believe that the angels of children have
God's immediate attention. What a blessing, and a faith practice for all of
us!"
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