An (Almost) Answered Prayer

source www.fireworksdisplayteam.co.uk

When I sat down to pray all those days ago, God asked me a question about an issue I had put down. He asked me what I wanted to happen. I had put it down, so my reply was that I was willing to leave it in His hands, and I did.

That issue was about whether I would be going to New Wine or not. I went last year on the gallery team and loved it. I said at the time that I would be going back this year, but because the gallery isn't on every year, no-one knew at that point whether it would be on. And I forgot about it. And then, a few weeks back, lots of people asked me if I was going to New Wine, and I remembered. I wasn't sure if that was what God wanted me to do-He wasn't saying-but I figured there couldn't be any harm in asking.

And so I emailed the office about it. And at that point, I realised later, people stopped asking me if I was going. Which I thought might be some sort of sign, but I wasn't bothered either way. That was kind of what the point God wanted me to get to, with this and well, everything. Like I said in the last post, getting His peace which is beyond all understanding isn't relying on understanding.

And I didn't understand. I went through the entire application process, both to New Wine and to be on a team smoothly. I got the time off work no problem-the confirmation of that came through in a couple of days where it can take weeks. One friend offered to share his tent when I mentioned I might have to buy another one, as mine is basically falling apart. And another friend offered to give me a lift down there (it's in Somerset). So pretty much everything was falling into place around me, as it were; but I still hadn't heard from New Wine. And it was getting closer and closer.

Still, I was confident that it wasn't a problem. God knew what he was doing, even if I didn't. Which was an answer in itself, of sorts. And then, with just over a week to go, when people were starting to ask me again, I still didn't know. At ALPHA, a friend prayed for me that I would get the confirmation, and when I turned my phone on later, there was a text message to say that, for some reason, the email had bounced back to her, so she was texting me to say I had been accepted. And the time stamp was just about the time of that conversation and prayer. God definitely has a sense of humour.

There was only one problem; I was supposed to be there earlier than the friend who'd offered me the lift could get there. But that was sorted the next day. I phoned my team leader (the same one as last year) to let her know I'd got her message and would be there, and mentioned that I wasn't sure what time I would be there, though I'd try to get there as early as possible. And she said not to worry about it, as long as she knew I was definitely coming, as it wouldn't be busy on the first day, and we had a bigger team than last year.

So, that was it. An answered prayer. Except for one thing. When I got in touch with the friend who had offered to share his tent, he asked if I could get the tent down there. So that may be a problem. Except it won't, because if God has sorted all this out, He can and will easily sort that out too. So, I'll be off to New Wine at the weekend; and who knows what will happen there.