God is Devising Ways

This week I read a verse in 2 Samuel 14:14 that I love. "Like water spilled on the ground which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But God does not take away life; instead, He devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from Him."

I love to think about God devising ways to bring His lost children back to Himself and as I meditated on this verse I realized that Operation Christmas Child is one of those ways. God is using these seemingly simple gift-filled shoeboxes to bring eternal hope to millions of children and adults in more than 100 countries around the world every year.

And as part of that plan, He's devising ways for us here in Northwestern PA to send more of those 'gospel opportunities'. Last weekend before I left for yard sales I asked God to bless me with 300 stuffed animals; instead He granted me 390.

In the last two weeks I received two more applications from persons who feel God is calling them to join our OCC team. This is a huge answer to prayer.

Every week brings new revelations of God's plan--like socks on sale for 25 cents a pair at Target and trigger-powered flashlights on sale at the K-Mart that's going out of business. God knows how He will provide every item to pack into our 12,000 boxes this year. And God knows who He will move to donate the rest of the boxes to meet the goal of 30,333 we're praying for in our area.

I need to remember that especially tonight. I just found out that we cannot use the pre-printed OCC 'deco boxes' for the 12,000 boxes we're praying to pack for special countries. I have 5,000 plain boxes so I need to trust God for about 7,000 more. I'm glad I found out in May instead of August but I wish I'd known this in January. But, by God's grace, He's reminding me that this isn't a surprise to Him and that He has a plan devised for this, too.

We'll keep trusting and praying and waiting as God devises His ways to reconcile people to Himself. What joy!