Some of you may have heard this story before, but I want to share it anyways. Sometimes it’s worth reflecting back on ways that you have seen God move as we seek to have a greater sense of confidence as we peer into the future.

A few years back, I was having coffee with a young man who was obviously troubled. It would take too long to go into his complete story, but he was having a hard time. I won’t share his name, but he was a tattoo artist and a really cool dude to talk to. He wanted to turn his life around, but he had gotten into a bad way with some really bad people.

I was meeting with him on a Sunday, and the night before he had gotten a text that he had 48 hours to pay back the $3,700 that he owed to some serious drug dealers. It was made clear in the text that if the debt was not paid within that time-frame, he would not live to tell the story.

I prayed with him before our meeting was over and he gave his life to Christ. It seemed to me that he really wanted a fresh start, but what in the world was he supposed to do in this situation? That next day, Monday, he was starting to prepare to get out of town as he did not have that kind of money. I really wanted to help this guy, but there was obviously nothing I could do. Seacoast sometimes offers financial assistance, but not to pay off drug cartels!

Monday afternoon I had a regularly scheduled meeting with a really sharp, young businessman in the community. We’ll call him Dave. Dave and I were meeting and I shared with Dave the young man’s story. Dave just kind of stopped the conversation and told me something crazy. 3 months prior to us sitting down, our church was in a series called the Blessed Life. Pastor Robert Morris, from Gateway Church in Texas, was talking to us about how to live a generous life. During that series, Dave felt like God told him to set aside $3,700 on the nose….yup….3 months prior!

Dave told me right there and then that God was telling him he was supposed to pay this young man’s debt. We went to Dave’s apartment and he gave me $3,700 cash to give to this guy. I called the young man up and told him what had happened. He came into the office, met with another pastor and I, and received the money. He proceeded to pay the debt off and got the opportunity to start his life over.

There is more to the story, but that is all we have time for right now. I guess you could say I was the middle man in a drug deal (-; Whatever you call it, it was one of the clearest instances where I knew the hand of God was at work. These two guys had never met and God had been planning this thing all along…unbelievable.

One thing that I learned from this experience was this…God’s extraordinary often intersects with our ordinary at unexpected times and in unexpected ways. If we will just commit to being faithful with what we believe he is telling us to do, you never know what could happen. Have you ever seen God move like this? I’d love to hear your stories!