Last week my wife and I were in the Cincinnati area meeting with current ministry partners and casting the vision to others. While we were there it became clear that God had us there for more reasons than we initially thought…
A friend of ours, who serves within the student leadership team of Every Nation Campus Ministries at FAMU is spending his summer in Arizona with the rest of his immediate family. We had not expected to see him again until August.
While in Cincinnati we found out that Branden’s aunt lived in that area but was in the hospital, in need of a liver transplant! As the situation became more serious, Branden, his entire immediate family, and many extended family members came from all across the U.S. to be with their loved one and to pray for a miracle.
As the family gathered outside the hospital room to pray, we joined with them. Had it been days earlier or days later we would not have been in Cincinnati. I am thankful to God that we were able to be with Branden and his family during this tough time.
In the end, God answered all our prayers and provided a liver just in time, and through this chain of events Katie and I were able to support our friend and meet his family too! (They are great people!) It is amazing how God orchestrates the events of our lives even beyond what we could ever plan for within the limited scope of our knowledge or understanding.
The whole situation reminded of what is recorded in Acts 17:25-26,
“…he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else. 26From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. 27God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.