The God of surprises

Yesterday I blogged about pilgrimages and the wholly unexpected graces I had received from them.  It’s actually a feature of life that occasionally we set out on some task for our reasons and then it turns out that God has His own plans.  I have become increasingly aware of this through my experience of Carmel, with the emphasis on what God is doing as much as on what I am doing.  A Carmelite friend recently told of his arrival in a new town where he and his wife heard about a spiritual meeting in a nearby home group which they decided to try out.  On the way there they were very preoccupied with a worrying car problem.  One of those small but potentially worrying life issues – and they were praying for wisdom to find a solution.  There was a lot of chat at the meeting but not of a very spiritual nature, so my friend plucked up courage to raise this issue and ask for prayer for the gift of wisdom about the car problem.  What this did was to break the ice, and others started to share much more serious issues for prayer, including a lady who was in tears over her son’s broken marriage.  Then a big surprise for my friend, which I will let him tell in his own words: “Towards the end of the meal the gentleman opposite me grinned and said: “About your car - it so happens I have a full electronic diagnostic kit for that make and model, here in my work bag. I never leave home without it. I can come to your home in the morning and send you the full read out from the diagnostic tests.” We were awestruck. Not only had God worked within the relationships in our new group, but he had heard and answered our little prayer as well in a surprisingly specific way.

Intercessions:

Marie - cancer

Bernard – cancer, and wife Angela

Rosemarie – multiple issues

Siena – infant with severe health issues