Koa and Clover

Often marvel at how tirelessly I mistake as God’s ultimate purpose the surface markers of His activity. My trip to Hawaii, for example, was not – as I had anticipated – about my teaching VBS, but about God’s solidifying in me two aspects of His character. I needed to be there, where He could implement two particular elements as evidence of His being my perfect Advocate and personal Comforter.

Koa…

I had gone to Hawaii with the intention of finding a certain item, made out of Koa, a wood which is native to the island, and which is just as gorgeous in its sheen as it is rare.

And so, God gave me the gift of being hemmed in…. In every wood store I checked (from Hilo to Kona), there was nothing remotely close to what I was looking for, and, with limited transportation, my outings were already restricted. Added to that, when a friend recalled that there was a store in Waimea, where I was staying, my work schedule in Kohala kept me out of town during every possible store hour.

And so God worked into place one who would not only go to the store and do the legwork for me, but would volunteer to take pictures of the shop items available, pass on recommendations, then even insist upon going to the shop the next day just to ensure that I wouldn’t leave the island without having purchased what I’d been seeking.

When, that following day, I walked into my living quarters to see a package lying on the table, my name written across the brown paper bag in big cursive letters, I melted. God had not only carried on in someone else the desire He’d first planted in me, but He had even eliminated all of my own efforts so that what I saw sitting on that table was a gift purely wrought of His undertaking, His advocacy on my behalf.

Clover…

A friend of mine insightfully noted that it is often only when we’re removed from our typical “ministry” duties that we ever ‘let down.’ And so it was, when – out of my element, and emotionally raw – all I could do was flop down against the garage wall and stare out over a field of clovers, bracing myself against the wind and letting the silent tears cascade down my cheeks.

What so fascinated me was that, when I consciously sensed God’s pressing in on me, and I finally asked Him to “speak,” His answer didn’t come in a quiet whisper, but almost immediately in the approach of a friend who came to patiently listen. For as I sat there, with another human being who was willing to ‘stare at clovers’ with me, I was mindful of God’s refusal to leave me in solitude or despair. He had intentioned that, when I was adrift, I be met with the reality that He is not a God to leave us alone, but to faithfully extend His presence and solace.


How prone we are to think that God’s greatest concerns are in grand planning and elaborate projects, when, in fact, sometimes His largest mission is simply to have reverberating within us His words, “I am with you… for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you. Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).