Bible & Passport

I have a crazy story to share with you. It is a story of faith, adventure and finding someone special.

I spent the past week in Toronto, Canada and found all of the above. The thing that makes it a little crazy is that I showed up to the airport with:

-A Bible

-A passport

-$72 cash

No wallet, no credit cards, no luggage or extra clothes, toothbrush, deodorant, dental floss, extra boxers, none of that! Now you are probably thinking “why would you do that, Joseph?”. It had a twofold purpose:

1 - I wanted to have to depend and rely on God and get an opportunity to experience Him as my provider. Also, there is a verse that says “It is impossible to please God without faith” Hebrews 11:6. So this was an opportunity for me to please God by stepping out in radical faith.

2 – In Luke chapter 10 where Jesus sends out 72 disciples to share the gospel He tells them to go in pairs of twos and to not bring an extra shirt or shoes, just what they are wearing and whichever houses welcome them in to bless them with peace. Hence, me choosing $72.

SO, the adventure begins! I had a stopover in NYC and on a shuttle to a different terminal I struck up a conversation with a lady who it turned out was also going to Toronto and she loved Jesus. We ended up praying for each other in the airport and then she said that God told her to buy me lunch!! So I got a delicious double cheeseburger, fries and a chocolate milkshake from Shake Shack. Jehovah Jirah – God provides! As I landed in Toronto and checked my phone one of my close friends had sent me $75 dollars! So before I even left the airport I had more than doubled my money and I had eaten a huge lunch and it was all God’s kindness and provision. Him showing me that He would meet each of my needs through the generosity of those around me.

In Toronto, I met with a friend of a friend, her name was Selene and she had agreed to show me around Toronto and help me get connected. When we had talked previously I had told her that I was coming to Toronto, I really loved Jesus, and was hoping to serve in the city. So she met me at the airport with an apple, a warm cup of tea and the exact bus fair ($3.25) for me to get on the metro. I love apples, grew up on an apple orchard and so apples are my primary love language. God cares so much about the small details. We spent the day together, went to a worship night potluck where there was plenty of delicious food and then her friends Shannon and Brandon kindly let me sleep in their guest room at their house. Day number 1 in the books, Jehovah Jirah, the Lord provides.

I won’t go into all the details of how the week went but it was incredible. Probably the best week of my life. The Lord provided for me, I was able to eat every meal every day (except for one day when we were fasting), have more than enough to give to others, I got more clothes, two toothbrushes, some sweet turquoise boxers, everything I needed and then some. The Lord put on my heart that whenever someone on the street asked me for money or needed something, to give to them – “Freely you have been given, so freely you shall give” (Matthew 10:8). And did I mention I always had more than enough to give?

There is power in twos and as the week went on I realized that I was crazy about this girl Selene and we were a powerful duo. So one night I gave her 3 flowers and told her how I felt. She felt the same and I could talk pages and pages more about that but that will be for another blog. This one is about how God is our provider.

The biggest lesson I learned is that I have missed out a lot on experiencing God as a provider because I have had all of my needs met here in the US and I am completely comfortable. I have a car to get me wherever, I have a credit card to get food, and I have insurance and access to a hospital if I get hurt. When we have all of our needs met often we will only reach out to God if something catastrophic happens in our life or for our list of “Wants”. And that is the main reason that probably 95% of people pray to God, so that He will help us get those “Wants”. The funny thing about that is that those “Wants” make us more comfortable and even less dependent upon God and less in relationship with Him. So it places God in a tricky place. He’s like the Dad at the Superhero themed kids birthday party who is telling his son not to eat too many cupcakes or he will get sick on the ride home, but once he has one you know he’s going to keep going back for more, he ain’t grabbing any of the celery sticks after he’s discovered the dessert table. And yes, he ends up yacking in his car seat on the drive home. Sorry for that imagery.

Anyways, the moral of the story - God is a provider and He wants to show us how good at providing for us He is but sometimes that requires us to take a leap of faith into the unknown where we are not so comfortable, where we cannot do it on our own but we actually NEED Him. God is like bread, He likes to be kneaded (ok, bad Dad joke).

I hope you are encouraged. I hope you know that you are loved by God and He cares about the details of your life and He wants to be involved in it. He is the best story-teller and when we are walking with Him, in relationship with Jesus and following the Holy Spirit we end up having some of the best stories!

Let your love be strong,

Joseph