The Trip to Tupelo

I heard someone talking about James 5:17 recently and he pointed out that we always point to the great results of Elijah's prayers, "He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years" but that we miss the whole point of the verse. The preceding sentence tells us, "Elijah was a man just like us." Elijah was just like us and look what his prayers accomplished!

I love that scripture and I firmly believe that Christians should always pray in complete faith. But I'm also reminded of what Gary told our kids just the other day. He was telling them what happened shortly after he got saved at the age of 21. He was going from Arkansas to Tupelo, Mississippi to visit his former pastor for the weekend and his car broke down on the road. He prayed. He prayed in great faith and...the transmission fell out!

Gary said that his faith was really shaken. He had to walk about 10 miles in the middle of summer and call a friend in Tupelo who picked him up and towed his truck. He was broke and stuck in Tupelo for much longer than anticipated, waiting for his truck to be fixed. But while he was waiting, he met Captain Will Cundiff of the Tupelo Salvation Army and the Lord impressed upon Gary that he needed to go to work for Capt. Cundiff. In faith, Gary did just that. And a year later, he met me. In Tupelo. And we've been married almost 25 years now.

He told the kids to always pray in faith, boldly, but to trust God for the results. Gary's faith was really shaken over that transmission, but that's just because he couldn't see how God was using that transmission to move him into His perfect will for his life. Today, Gary laughs about that trip to Tupelo and tells the kids the only reaon they exist is because his transmission fell out!!