Proverbs 20:24 "A man's steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand his own way?"
This last week I took a quick trip to Baltimore. When I say quick, I mean quick. It was a back and forth in the same day trip, with connecting flights on Delta in each direction. I was going on business, but there was no way I was wearing dress clothes...nope, it was jeans for me, for sure. (What can I say, I am a jeans kind of girl!) I packed my dress clothes in a little duffle bag for when I arrived in Baltimore.
Once we arrived, I had a text from my colleague, saying she was outside and ready to pick me up. I ran to the bathroom, pulled my computer out of the bag, changed my clothes, put on my heels, washed my hands, and ran out to catch my ride. I had an afternoon of meetings, and once I arrived, I went to drop off my things on a chair and fire up my computer. Rewind. I ran to the bathroom...pulled my computer out of the bag...and that's where my mind stopped. With my computer sitting on the toilet paper rack in the bathroom. Yes, I had left my computer in an airport bathroom in Baltimore.
My meeting was about to start, so I quickly retrieved the TSA Lost and Found telephone number. I called and left a message. My colleague sent an email for me. She left a message as well. I called again. My heart sunk deeper into my chest. I couldn't focus. This was not my work computer that I lost. (Not that that would be any easier to swallow.) This was my personal netbook. It's a smaller, lighter laptop with a wireless card for internet. It's also the computer in our house that keeps all our personal financial records.
My meeting started. I did my best to focus, but my thoughts wandered. With each thought, my eyes swelled with tears. Our bank account information. Pictures of my kids.... I did my best to hold it together and be a productive member of the meeting, all while carrying on a long conversation with the Lord in my head. "God, I know I was careless, but only You can do a miracle and help me get that computer back." I knew my chances were slim, but I also knew my God could do anything. My phone rang, and I could see that it was the TSA. I excused myself from the meeting, with hope in my heart. "We're returning your call, but we wanted to let you know we've not had any laptops turned in."
I went back to my meeting. The next call from the TSA had to go to voicemail. I kept praying. I kept focusing. I checked my voicemail at the next break. Still nothing. It was time to get back to the airport, so I decided I would just go find the TSA Lost and Found before I boarded my trip home. My last ditch effort, I thought. I got to the airport and found the TSA office. Still no laptop. "Oh, you need to go to the airport lost and found, not the TSA lost and found." OK, great! "Thank you, God!" I started to praise Him before I even got to that office. My heart was beating faster, but only for a moment. "No, no laptops have been turned in."
"God, I'm trusting You. Please let that laptop be in the bathroom right where I left it." I made my way through security and made a bee-line for the bathroom. In. Out. Nothing. I went directly across the hall to the bar. Maybe someone had turned it in there. I waited until the bartender noticed me, eyes filling up with tears. "Nope. No one turned in anything. Check with airport Lost and Found." I walked away to the corner and called my husband. I couldn't hold the tears back anymore. "I'm so sorry, honey. I tried everything I could think of. I just can't find it. Please forgive me..."
I'm so thankful for my husband. When we have any kind of crisis, he remains calm and sane. He doesn't yell; he just thinks in a reasonable way. "It's ok. It's just property. I'll call and suspend our wireless service. Then I'll start to change all our passwords."
We hung up the phone, and I looked up. There was an American Airlines counter in front of me. It seemed impossible, especially since I arrived on a Delta flight, but I just felt like God was saying to go ask. I walked up to the gate agent. "I know this is a crazy request, but is there any chance someone turned in a small laptop? I left it at 11:40 this morning in that bathroom right there." The man looked at me like I was crazy, but maybe the hope and desperation in my eyes could be seen. Just then, a man walked up behind him. "A laptop? In a black sleeve? Oh, I know right where it is."
The man exited the area, and within moments, handed my beloved laptop to me. Why American Airlines never turned in my computer to lost and found, I will not know, but it doesn't matter. I called my husband immediately to let him know of the answered prayer. As I talked to him on the phone, not more than two or three minutes after getting my computer back, I looked up. The American Airlines gate area was now completely empty. I hung up the phone and sat there, dumbfounded at God's timing. If I had cried and carried on even a few minutes longer, I perhaps would still not have my computer in my possession. If I had waited to ask the gate agent, even one moment, that person walking behind him may not have even been in the area.
OK, I know that was a long story to illustrate this short little verse. But seriously, I have to give props to my God in great detail. I mean, only God can come through like that, right? I had someone tell me, "Well, Beth, you were pretty persistent." Yes, that's true. God expects us to do our part. If I had sat around and prayed without taking personal action, how would the story have ended? I dare say with a different ending.
Proverbs 20:24 "A man's steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand his own way?"
Yes, a man's steps, my steps, were directed by the Lord. The rest of the verse goes on to say that a man can't understand his own steps. (From the research I've done, the "his" refers to man, not to God.) Why was I so careless to leave my computer in the bathroom? I'll never know. What I do know is that my steps in recovery were 100% ordained by God.
Over and over in my life, I can look back and see how God repeatedly is at work. Sometimes I can't see it until years after He's been at work, but He's always there, guiding and directing each step. I just have to let Him lead. I have to do my part and obey.
Trust me, next time I travel, I'll be taking some different steps through the airport, but I'm not making changes on who is leading.
---Beth Banfill
www.GodandMe2theMax.com
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