Seeking a God Who Cares

On a recent magazine assignment, I heard a fascinating story about a Christian leader’s experience while working in a major corporate environment. During board meetings, she would pray and ask the Holy Spirit for ideas, which she later brought up to her colleagues. Afterwards, some would approach to ask about the source of her out-of-the-box solutions, giving her the opportunity to praise God.

Since hearing that story, the man who related it told me he had tried to follow this example at his office.

“Thus, if I’m facing a hurdle, I stop and inquire of the Holy Spirit before I attempt to maneuver via my own understanding,” he said. “Lately, as I have sought the Holy Spirit more in the workplace, the Father has set up several ‘divine appointments’ that have allowed me to open up about my faith.”

Spiritual Wavelength

I can relate to living on this kind of spiritual wavelength because of a fascinating series of events that took place a month before I worked on this profile.

Thanks to a steady stream of work from a book publisher, I had been going full-speed-ahead for many months. That income made 2020 my best year ever, despite the uncertainties of pandemic lockdowns.

However, after finishing a book in late January, things slowed down. At first, I didn’t mind, since I had been working at such a feverish pace.

Even after February brought an unexpected job that provided a nice chunk of income, the month was on track to produce only half of January’s revenue.

Looking at the situation, on Feb. 22 as my wife and I prayed during morning devotions, I said, “Lord, I could use a couple more paying projects this month.”

Answered Prayer

I spoke those words around 8:15 a.m. on that Monday. At 2 p.m., an editor I work with emailed me to ask if could handle a rush assignment about a disaster relief mission following the snow and ice storms that had blanketed the nation.

She said they needed it in a couple days. Thanks to connecting with the right people quickly, I sent off the rough draft at 6 p.m. A couple minor tweaks the next morning and I was done. And because of the rush, the assignment paid twice as much as normal.

God wasn’t done. On Thursday afternoon another email showed up from an author who had self-published a couple books through Amazon. Now, he wanted them professionally edited.

We talked the next afternoon and after I sent a sample edit, we were off and running. The job is about to wrap up, the author has paid my invoices promptly, and the editing has been enjoyable.

Proof God Exists

Before that week ended, I received a third, unexpected mail from another editor who needed me to turn around a story by mid-March.

Not long after I submitted it, several other unexpected assignments developed. When a ghostwriting project was unexpectedly canceled, the same week a businessman asked me if I could edit his client’s manuscript.

Now, I don’t mean this to sound like a push-the-button, pull-the-lever, and out-comes-a- blessing kind of story. Still, it is true that “without faith it is impossible to please God, for he who comes to God must believe that He exists and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6 MEV).

After all, if you don’t believe, why pray?