“When a man kneels down, he will not be the same man when he stands up.”
From January into the first week of March I traveled to Australia, The Netherlands, The United Kingdom, Canada, Costa Rica, Los Angeles, and Colorado Springs, Florida and all over the Pacific Northwest. In every instance I smiled because “Jesus got there before I did.” Prayer is an amazing thing. Whether general, specific, intentional, daily, consistent or inconsistent, prayer is experienced and many times, just unexplainable. But when you are the recipient of the prayers of others you know it and you see the evidence of it in both simple and specific ways.
I walked into situations outside of my control with people I knew and with people I had never met. With those I knew there was connection and trust, but there was the unknown of how to comfort and contribute to their already difficult, life-altering situations. With those I had never met there was the doubt of whether there could be a connection or if trust was possible. In all of these situations, “Jesus got there before I did.”
How did I know and what did I see that caused me to smile and step back in one situation and, yet, to step forward into another situation? For those I knew, there was simply a peace and this peace passes
all understanding. It was a sustainable peace and evidenced by their hope and by their joy. They did not need me to “fix” anything. They just needed me to be with them. For those I did not know, we gained favor quickly. We were invited into their conversations and not pushed out. We were greeted with follow-up by comments like,
“I felt an instant connection with you” and “I knew I was respected and loved by you.”
Prayer is a mystery, but prayer is real. It is many times unexplainable, but as a recipient of prayer, it is always experienced. How do I know this? Because it explains the unexplainable and reinforces the fact that I control nothing. How do I know this? Simply because I see tangible evidence that in every case, “Jesus got there before I did.” I see His hope well lived and His joy expressed and I see Him welcoming me into places I should not be received into. But this is all a great adventure and these are all opportunities that will never be positive apart from His nudging and the prayers of others which always allows Jesus to get there before we do…
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