Franklin
Graham, the son of evangelist Billy Graham, was a newly licensed pilot and was
flying from Vero Beach, Florida to Longview, Texas. He met with bad weather
over Mobile, Alabama and air traffic controllers told him to fly north toward
Jackson, Mississippi in order to avoid the approaching storm.
As
he rose above the clouds, the instrument panel lights flickered. A minute later
the radio and instruments went dead; then all the lights went out. Franklin
realized he was in a desperate situation so he prayed for God to intervene.
He
dropped below the clouds hoping to see the ground. When he spotted the distant
lights of Jackson, he headed for the airport's rotating beacon. He circled the
control tower and since he didn't have any electrical power, lowered the
landing gear manually. At that moment, the runway's emergency landing lights
came on and he landed.
As
soon as he was on the ground, the lights went off. “That's odd,” he thought,
“at least they could have waited until I taxied to the ramp.” After he got out
of the plane, a man from the tower asked, "Who gave you permission to
land?" No one in the tower had seen the small plane circling overhead.
Why
would the lights be turned on if they hadn't seen him? They “just happened” to
be turned on by an air traffic controller who was explaining to his visiting
pastor what he would do in case a plane
ever attempted to land without radio communications! At the exact moment
when Franklin needed the lights, the controller turned them on without knowing
the plane was there.
(Franklin Graham, "When the Lights Went On,” Dimensions for Living, 1992).
God’s
timing is always perfect. The ram was caught in the thicket at the exact moment
Abraham was about to offer up Isaac (Gen. 22). The fish with a coin in its
mouth bit on Peter’s hook at the right time so he could pay
the temple tax (Matt. 17). Mary arrived in Bethlehem at the right time to give
birth to Jesus and fulfill the prophecy of Micah 5:2.
Maybe
you’ve been praying for something for a long time and nothing has happened—yet.
God knows the exact time when He will answer. Since His timing probably isn’t
the same as yours, remove the deadline you’ve placed on Him. Be patient and keep
trusting God even though you don’t know when it will happen. www.makinglifecount.net
****************************************************************************************************
BIBLE STUDY “How
Did We Get the Bible?”
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www.makinglifecount.net Twitter: @KentCrockett
