Always Be Prepared

Years ago, I had a friend called B.

He used to live in M.

He was a Christian, a husband to C, a father of a boy and girl,

and worked as a bricklayer.

He would have described himself as an ‘average’ Christian.

He went to church nearly every Sunday morning

and now and again to the Bible Study and Prayer Meeting.

He read his Bible when he remembered to

and prayed when he wanted God’s help for something.

One Wednesday morning his wife C asked him if he would go to

the midweek Bible Study and Prayer meeting after work that night,

but he said ‘No’.

This was fairly usual so she did not press him.

B went off to work at the housing estate site where he was

helping other brickies to build some new houses,

just like any other typical average day.

But everything went wrong.

He dropped a brick which just missed the foreman below.

Someone ‘borrowed’ his spirit level and lost it.

Someone else knocked over his flask and spilled his coffee

so he had nothing to drink at his break time.

Then it started to rain heavily, and bricklaying was impossible

so he went home about three hours earlier than normally,

so he was washed and changed

and had read the newspaper

by the time C came home from her work.

As she was going to the midweek meeting

and he was now bored, he thought he might as well go with her.

He was that sort of Christian.

That particular midweek meeting was slightly different

because it was being taken by a visiting speaker, an American,

who was involved in an organization

that was not well known here – .XXX

It focuses on saving, and then using young Christians, men and women

from the age of about 17/18 up to 30

who share their faith in youth clubs, pubs, the streets, school assemblies,

wherever young people are.

XX’s usually go to a different country from wherever they live.

They see a bit of the world for one or two years

and this helps them to grow up, personally and spiritually.

They have to pay their own fares and food and accommodation.

The American preached and talked about the aims and work of XXX

then asked for the church’s prayer support

and financial support in the form of a retiring offering.

Then he said a funny thing.

He said he felt God had brought him to that particular church

and on that particular day

because God’s man to head up the work of XXX in Scotland was present.

He asked for people to pray, for God to speak to the individual,

and for that person to respond,

and Billy got up and walked out to the front.

He was a brickie, a decent Christian husband and father,

but he had not been to Bible College, had no O levels

and had never worked with youth.

The American, the church minister and others in the church

prayed over B, and they all agreed to let God to work it all out,

and in His time.

The very next day, Thursday, B could do nothing right on the building site.

Others were frustrated at him, and he was frustrated at himself.

He went to the foreman and gave his notice in.

They lived in a rented house.

On Friday B and C went to the landlord