Saturday Ramblins, Vol. 2, No. 6 (March 20, 1999)

It was cool and cloudy when I stepped out of the church, but I wanted to walk home, about two miles, going the shortest way. A college student with no car, I usually got a ride from the pastor's wife. That particular morning, another friend had given me a ride to church, and I had said I would get a ride home, but for some reason, I really wanted to walk.

I ended up taking a very long route home. It was a route I had never taken and did not know well. The city where I went to college was not the safest city in North America. Rapes and muggings were frequent, even right on campus. Walking this route home was not wise, and yet I felt compelled.

Where my church was located, was pleasant with shops and restaurants and such, but outside its center, the town was run-down. I could have said it was the gloomy weather making it look that way, but I knew it wasn't. When that hit me, I realized it was God, not me, who wanted me to walk home, wanted me to see this area, not just to know about it in my mind.

I found myself in the real slums of the town. I began to pray . I thanked the Lord for the warmth and the homeiness of my little apartment, decorated in what my father jokingly referred to as "Early American Tag Sale", but it was what my roommate and I could afford. So many times, I had looked at our raggedy rugs, dingy furniture, old gas stove, and old refrigerator and thought of them as ugly. But compared to those slum apartments, I had luxury. For that I praised Him. Then I prayed for the people who lived in any slums, anywhere in the world, that they might find true riches-in God.

I kept walking a more familiar street and discovered a flower shop I had never noticed. A large picture window displayed many plants and flowers, the only decent plant life around. There were few trees here, and the ones that were looked tired, lifeless, even the evergreens. The small amount of grass was brownish. Mostly there was asphalt and concrete and buildings.

As I looked at the plants , I remembered an elderly woman told me she liked plants, but she didn't have any. The woman lived alone, and I visited her everyday after my classes. I went into the shop. Wanting to buy one for my friend, I asked the prices. They were far too expensive, so I headed for the door. As I was walking out, a small philodendron caught my eye. It looked very healthy and its bright green tear-shaped leaves contrasted beautifully with its cheerful yellow ceramic planter. I asked the price which was surprisingly low. This was the plant I had to get! As I left the flower shop, I again knew that the Lord had wanted me to walk home.

The adventures were not over, however. Just before I reached my own street, I encountered a small boy, about two, marching up and down the sidewalk, pretending to be a soldier, not wearing a coat, and I knew his mother had not sent him outside like that on such a cool day. I was a little chilly even with my jacket! Besides, the boy was too young to be out without supervision, especially here. He could very easily wander into the street and get hit by a car.

I spent about fifteen minutes with him, trying to find out where he lived, having to decode his speech and penetrate his stubbornness to go home. Finally successful, I led him into the run-down apartment building he indicated and , up three flights of stairs. We had been right in front of it the whole time. At the top, an apartment door was open and inside a young woman was holding a baby. She smiled, surprised when she saw the boy.

"What are you doing here, Chris?" she asked. It was obvious he did not live here and she was not his mother. Chris lived next door and she watched him while his mother was at work. His mother was probably wondering where he was, and the woman said she would take him home. Going down the three flights of stairs from the apartment where I left Chris, I smiled. This had been another reason why God wanted me to take the long way home.

When I finally reached my own street, I stopped at my elderly friend's apartment. It turned out philodendrons were her favorite plant. I knew that the fact this plant had caught my eye was not a coincidence, nor was the fact that it was the only plant I could afford in that shop.

When you trust God, when you listen to the Holy Spirit's leading in your life, there is no coincidence. Perhaps, from a human perspective, I took too many chances by walking home that day. I could have been mugged, gotten lost in a strange part of the city. Instead, I realized the blessings in my own life, I found a flower shop and made an elderly woman happy, and I found a friend to take little Chris home where he belonged.

Yes, I did take a lot of chances, but I wasn't afraid, and I don't believe I was in any danger. God wanted me to do the things I did that day. I thank Him, because He showed me the way home.

"The Lord guides a man in the way he should go, and protects those who please Him." Psalm 37:23 (Good News Bible)