Life was hectic. I was regularly traveling more than three hundred miles between my home in Connecticut and my new office outside Washington. At the same time my daughter was planning to be married soon, and to top all that, my wife was continuing to fight unidentified health problems. There were just lots of things to worry about.
Late one Sunday afternoon, my wife and I stopped at a supermarket to pick up a couple of items. Returning to our locked car, we couldn’t find the key! A quick look through the car window showed us where it unfortunately was. Man. I didn’t need that, as I planned to drive to Washington as soon as we got back to the house. I telephoned for help, and eventually my daughter and her fiancé came to the rescue with another key.
Returning home, we strangely encountered another key problem. The downstairs bathroom door was locked. Looking around I could easily see that everyone was in view, so why was it locked? How did that happen? I was getting a bit unraveled. We kept a key above the doorframe for just such an instance, but now it too was missing. An intensive search began by all, but we just could not find that key. I was becoming really anxious from the time spent on these lost key incidents because I had to leave soon. What could have happened? I’m sure by my behavior I was making everyone around anxious as well.
After several minutes of searching and while everyone else continued to look, I walked upstairs and into the master bedroom, dark at the time and only lighted by the hall light coming in the door. Through that dim light I could see lying on the bed a church program, and sticking from the pages of the program was unmistakably the key to the downstairs locked bathroom! I was stunned. The air in the bedroom was electric, and the hair on my arms seemed to be standing on end. I sat down on the bed and picked up the program. Slowly opening it, I realized it was not from the current Sunday but from a Memorial Day service weeks before. In the program was a paragraph stating that flowers were given the church that Memorial Day from my wife and me in honor of our deceased fathers. I sat in the dark for several moments, trying to think. I was in shock.
Finally, I stood up and left the room, going downstairs to report my find. Everyone was surprised and said they had not placed the key there on the bed. It was obvious they were telling the truth. But unmistakably someone had put the program and the key there, and had locked the downstairs bathroom. That someone was an angel, of course. This was a sign that could not be ignored. Gradually I realized the message: You are not alone. Don’t worry so much.
In a small but unforgettable incident, God had stepped in to remind me he was there, to put things in perspective. Still later I thought about Christ’s admonition in the Sermon on the Mount not to worry about my life. I was back in focus.
Copyright © 2018 by John Newlin
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