24 The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. (1 John 3:24)
If I’ve surprised myself and out of character performed an act of love or trusted God when I would have normally crumbled in disbelief and anxiety, this is proof positive that I’m His.
I remember the time I felt led to help someone out financially despite my meager “banker’s salary.” I knew I had to do it anonymously, so I went downstairs and requested a “cashier’s check” for an odd amount made out to the recipient. I mailed the check in a plain white envelope without a return address from the neighboring city where I worked. I either put a verse on the check or included an unsigned note. I had heard of people getting white envelopes in the mail with just the right amount of money to pay for something critical, and I wanted to be on the sending end. All I remember is I had to do what I did.
In another case, I had just bought my first brand new car and I was driving straight from work to Lake Placid (in Florida) on a lonely two-lane county road at twilight. I was on the way to play in a concert at a small church in that city, “serving the Lord.”
All of a sudden I see a deer (a trophy buck) in the headlights and was just able to swerve a little before hitting it square with my right front bumper. I did not stop to assess the damage or even look at it until morning. My attitude at the time was if the Lord wants to mess up His new car, then who am I to question him? Obviously, this was a test that I needed to pass, and it was totally out of character for me to react as I did—believe me! I never stopped to think that I could have died on that road!
End of the story, while the body shop fixed the damage, from that time forward I still recalled the life lesson that we don’t own anything, and God is sovereign. As far as the white envelope, I’ll will not know the end of the story until Judgement Day.
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