God's Faithfulness

God recurrently surprises me by showing me prayers that He's answered that I've forgotten I'd even made.  One of the best examples of that occurred to me this last week.  As I was walking into Dillons, one of the employees (who often goes to The Gamers Guild) stopped me and asked me if I'd be willing to do his wedding vow renewals.  We had a bit of a conversation, because I needed to know what both he and his wife were wanting.  First, they often have different desires and don't always communicate well, and I didn't want to step into a minefield.  Second, I wasn't sure if they wanted this to be a Christian ceremony, and I needed to know those details before I decided if I'd be willing to proceed.  We ended up agreeing that he and his wife would meet with me the following day or the day after (they were doing the renewals in three days, and I wanted to let them know yes or no at least a day in advance--preferably much earlier).

They ended up showing up at The Gamers Guild to discuss what they wanted the night before their ceremony.  It took a fairly long discussion as they did want a Christian ceremony but hadn't laid out how the event should look.  They did know some songs they wanted, but there was no sound person or sound system, just a laptop with loud speakers and a cell phone.  They also knew some of the things they wanted to happen, but they didn't have an order or timing set out.  We worked through all of those details and more (I was glad I'd done a wedding once before), and then we set a time to do a rehearsal in advance.

The day of the event, I was mostly present to be a peacemaker and keep everything running smoothly.  I hadn't had much time to prepare a message, but I trusted the Holy Spirit to give me the needed words at the time and had at least some ideas laid out.  I'd be happy to share the details of the day and the ceremony in person at any time, but that's not really the heart of the story here.

The heart of the story is that when I first met these two almost four years ago at The Gamers Guild, they'd walked in as a group of four.  The husband had a girlfriend on his shoulder, and the wife had a boyfriend.  They man introduced himself and his 'soon-to-be-x-wife', in his words, and the woman introduced herself and her 'soon-to-be-x-husband', in her words.  They also introduced their significant others.  Needless to say, I wasn't sure exactly how to respond.  I kept it polite, and I introduced them to what they could do in The Gamers Guild.  I also got to know both of them and listened to their stories.

Over time, I watched them interact with each other and wasn't sure if they should stay together or not, but I turned it over to God in prayer--praying for the best outcome for them and the people with them.  Over the next few months they went through ups and downs, but they were ultimately separate and living with others.  Fast forward to a few years later, and they are back together--not only that, but they are generally treating each other better and are moving slowly towards a healthier relationship.  I'd forgotten about the prayer I'd made on their behalf long ago, and then, out of the blue, I'm asked to renew their vows.

That's when I remembered their true history and also when I remembered what I'd prayed.  It struck me pretty hard--how could I have forgotten those prayers years ago?  How much work had God incrementally done to slowly help these two get to where they were now?  What an amazing series of events must have slowly been occurring that answered a prayer that I'd forgotten I'd even made.

I felt humbled, embarrassed, and thankful all at once.  It was an interesting moment for me, and it was one that I'm still reflecting on today.  How often has God done major things to answer my prayers only for me to no even notice all of the hard work He and The Holy Spirit have been doing in others' lives?  Isn't it crazy that He could be lovingly, painstakingly answering a sincere prayer that I made so long ago that I forgot it?  How amazing is His great love?

Thank God for his patience, forgiveness, and most of all, for His love for all of us...