Journal Entry #8 - Does God Care About A "Missing" Bedframe"?

Life: an adventure, a journey with Jesus!
Does God care about a “missing” bed frame?

You’ve read this paragraph before. More than once, I hope. But it’s true, another leg of the journey is complete! Jesus continues to show Himself to us in new ways. We have many God stories to share. Let me share another one with you.

Being the female God created me to be, I’m a planner, list maker, scheduler, and details matter. It gives me great satisfaction to know that things are under control. Distribution of our household items to family members, or through sales and auctions, and selected items being stored are even scheduled. The plan included leaving the water bed in what we call the guest room for the new residents, Mr. & Mrs. L. and our box spring and mattress on the extra Hollywood bed frame we have in storage. This would enable them to have a place to lay their head the first night they move in. They are relocating with very few items, and appreciated this offer from us. On paper, without a doubt, this plan should work to benefit everyone.

You may have noticed the title of this journal is “Does God care about a ‘missing’ bed frame? Indeed, the bed frame went missing! The auctioneer and his packing team were doing their jobs thoroughly. In fact, they didn’t miss taking a single thing. You get the picture, don’t you? They also took the bed frame. We were not fast enough to know it was on the truck and probably 45 minutes away from home. What now? We decided to move on to Plan C. Yes, Plan C.

We have been donating items to Cheaper By The Dozen, the thrift store operated by New Covenant Creation Ministries, in support of its ministries in Peru. When we dropped off some boxes a day after the auctioneer left our house, we shared our dilemma and asked if they had any bed frames. Believe it or not, they sold one the day before! We were so disappointed. I was particularly concerned with the problem because we promised to leave two beds in place when we left the house. I have to admit, I was not happy about the situation. I needed to fix it. After all, the plan I had put in place was now incomplete. I realized we had a week to find a bed frame.
Did you notice I jumped from Plan A to Plan C? Why? What happened to Plan B? I didn’t recognize it. It’s even in scripture. It’s in the books of Matthew and Mark that “with God all things are possible” and in both the O.T. and N.T. we read that the hairs of our head are numbered and we are more valuable than many sparrows. So what does this have to do with a missing bed frame? HE cares. HE can do all things. In Ephesians 6:18 we are told to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. And, finally, one of the more familiar verses in Philippians says “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (chapter 4: 6)
The bed frame wasn’t missing. After all, we knew where it was. It was with the auctioneer’s team. But, you see, it wasn’t the right one God wanted for Mr. & Mrs. L. Plan B (well, really it should have been Plan A!) should have been to pray about the situation. I missed that one completely! We learn as children, and sometimes have to re-learn as adults, that we should take everything to God in prayer. Remember that old hymn? What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear, what a privilege to carry, EVERYTHING TO GOD IN PRAYER!

Fast forward a day or two. No solution and time is running out. Now that the weekend is over, it’s time to do something and to find a bed frame. I received an email from Joy – another Joy, a dear friend. She and her husband have a queen size, 4 poster bed they want to donate! See what I mean? HE cares about a missing bed frame. He provided one that was bigger and better. This one even has a matching dresser! Isn’t that how He does things? Remember the verse in Ephesians 3 and verse 20, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” He provides over and above what we ask or think. Now’s the time to pray again, thanking Him for even caring about a bed frame!

Had I only gone to Plan B when I should have! Have you ever done that? Skipped over the obvious? Let me encourage you to practice what we teach the little ones. Praying is talking to God. When we still have our Dad here on earth with us, we talk to him about all kinds of stuff, so why not talk to our heavenly Father about all things? Our Dad stops to listen, shows he cares and gives us something to think about. How much more our heavenly Father loves and cares for us and His resources are far in abundance!