Even The Stops Are Ordained By The Lord

“Pastor, can you come in the end of May to be with us and spend a few days with us?” This was the call that I received earlier in the year to come and spend time with our missionaries and trainees from the forest area of southern Chattisgarh. With my heart always wanting to equip and encourage, I prayerfully confirmed my arrival.

I was aware of the tense situation that was there in that region, with a separatist group trying to gain power by forced killings and terrorist attacks.  But every time that I had gone in, God had miraculously protected me and so I felt confident.  Besides, the vibrant ministry and the leadership would definitely be helped, I thought to myself.

Having travelled long, we were hardly 200 kms from our actual destination when God asked me to stay back and meet the believers in another town.  I did not like the idea at first but then I obeyed and met the believers and pastor in this town and we had a wonderful time with God and his people. 

After the meeting, as we went to a small hut for dinner, I watched the news and I was shocked.  There had been a terrorist attack in the region and 29 people were ambushed and killed on the road.  And where did this take place?  Very close to the road that we would have taken.  I kept staring at the news and thinking of how God stopped me from going to that region.  I was not happy then, but I knew better now.

We don’t lay claim to anything except your prayers and the grace of God.  It is important that we do the will of God, but it is more important to keep listening to him every step of our assignment.  As was famously written on George Muller’s Bible, next to Psalm 37:23, “The stops too are ordained by the Lord.”