So Chris decided to trust God and walk by faith.
(This is the second part of the story about Archie the gardener. If you haven’t read it yet go back to see the context).
Chris announced this decision to the doctor who was immensely relieved.
He said goodbye to his future parents in law who had come to the weekend of the diploma ceremony and to his future bride. He told them he would see them again as soon as God liberated him from this mission.
But for her and her parents to whom he just asked her hand in marriage, they didn’t know if they would ever see him again. (There were many cases of young people who committed themselves to serve the College who were still there 40 years later).
Walk by faith and Enjoy a special time with God
Chris enjoyed immensely this time spent taking care of Archie and leading the work teams. This didn’t seem at all to be a trial. He was in heaven with his times of prayer and Bible reading.
Towards the third week of August, he started to meditate on the book of Joshua. Joshua 1 was a call to the people to enter and take possession of the promised land.
Verse 3: « I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.»
« Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.»
Verse 5: « No one will be able to stand against you. »
Then Verse 6: « Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. »
And then the fantastic verse 8 :
« Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.»
Chris only found out the next day that the Holy Spirit was preparing him for the next step of obedience in this trial.
God gives marching orders to those that walk by faith
The next day he read in verse 11, the order Joshua gave to the people: « Get your provisions ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan to go in and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own. »
Chris found it interesting that God motivated the leaders first before setting in motion the people…
« Do you not realize I am talking to you? »
For Chris, the English Channel was his Jordan river. « You are leaving in three days, prepare your provisions. » But Lord, in three days? It is impossible! He had just given away all his money to different causes as was the habit of the students before the weekend. (God knew that, of course, and waited for him to give all his money away before giving him the Word to leave in 3 days.)
Impossible is not of God?
Also, he had just sent his passport to the Home Office in London to get his visa renewed. He thought he was going to stay for a while at the College.
Chris had read a bit further in Chapter 3 that Joshua declared that God was about to accomplish some miracles. 5 Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.” (3.5) To make it to the other side of the flooded Jordan, the priests put their toes in the water”.
And O miracle, « the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off”.
So the people crossed over opposite Jericho. “The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground, while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground.» (3.17)
Chris felt like a spectator to see what God was about to do.
Your decision to obey will have an impact on others
The most intimidating challenge would be to explain the Word he had received to the doctor. Everyone saw him as a young person that had understood the same things as they had years ago. They were so proud of him.
But the « walk by faith », sometimes means losing your aura and reputation to please God alone.
The doctor said, “Can’t you wait 3 weeks until the new students arrive ?» Of course, there was no hurry to leave. The only thing was God had clearly said Chris was to leave “in 3 days”.
In three days, not in 3 weeks
Chris totally understood his logic. “Why leave now, my Lord? » The doctor has an open conflict with Sister Martha and will have to take care of Archie. « That is exactly why you need to leave now so that they can find a spiritual solution together. If you stay, you prevent it.»
The doctor reminded Chris that he had promised to take care of Archie until his death. But of course, he had forgotten the second part: “Or stay until God leads Chris further”. When the doctor saw that Chris had decided to leave in 3 days he threw at him, « My wife and I have been saving up some money for your departure in three weeks. But now you will get nothing at all! «
No money and no passport to be able to obey
Chris had no British pounds at all to be able to take the bus or the hovercraft (no tunnel yet at that time). But saying goodbye to different persons, they put various small amounts in his hand that paid for the bus to London. After that, he hitchhiked to Ramsgate.
But he still didn’t have a passport to be able to enter France to meet his future wife. All he had was his student card and a paper certifying that he was a student in the Bible College of Wales. And he had some coins (but not enough) to pay for his passage to France.
Walk by faith to cross the Red Sea?
Just in case, Chris tipped his toes into the English Channel, but nothing happened. But it is true that God rarely does the same miracle the same way twice in a row.
On the beach, he noticed some coins someone had dropped. And picking them up he also saw a returnable Coca-Cola bottle that was worth a little if he could find a store that would take them. He kept looking and found others as well as some returnable beer bottles. He finally found a store that would take them.
Then he went to the Hovercraft ticket office and asked how he could go to Calais with so few pence and no passport. And Chris announced that he had to go that very day! (We were on the third day).
The solution was already prepared.
For the man in the ticket office, there was no problem. France and England had just signed an agreement for a one-day pass for British citizens to be able to go to Calais (France) and buy alcohol at French prices. The price for the crossing with the hovercraft was very affordable and corresponded to the exact amount Chris had in hand.
After explaining that his Canadian passport was in the Home Office the man said: « You are Canadian, so you are a citizen of the Commonwealth.” And he stamped a paper for the one-day pass to go to France.
« But I’m not coming back this evening, » Chris warned him. « Don’t tell anyone. They won’t check. And you’ll get your passport sent to your girlfriend’s address ».
He missed the town he was aiming for by 200 kilometers
Chris prepared a sign with the name of the town where his future bride lived. He only had a vague idea of where it was (and no map). And the people that picked him up had no map or idea where it was either. They didn’t speak any languages he knew. And of course, at the time, (1976) there was no internet or mobile phone to warn them he was coming…
He found himself in Germany, so he had to hitchhike back with a trucker to northern France.
Tired by this walk by faith but in peace.
He made it to the future parent-in-law’s house towards the evening and rang the bell. The “Walk by faith” test was coming to an end. Her mother opened the door and called, « My dear, someone wants to see you! »
See the first part of this article: God so loved Archie the gardener
Summary of the principles
· Your faith is not worth much if you don’t allow God to test it.
· For your prayers to be taken seriously by God, you need to accept to be the « first response » for your own prayers.
· Do you have plans and projects and promises given by God himself? How can you be certain that your calling has not become an idol?
· We can never do what only God can do. But effective intercession is identifying with the subject we are praying for.
· Since I am trusting God for eternal Life, can I not trust Him in this matter?
· Your decision to obey will have an impact on others. That is why you need to leave now. If you stay, you prevent them from finding a spiritual solution.
· The “Walk by faith” sometimes means losing your “aura” and reputation to only please God.
Prayers
I recognize my Lord, that your ways are higher than mine. And when you have us walk in your ways, we can totally trust you to bring us where you want us to go. Even if it is counter-intuitive and clashes with our reasoning and those around us (even though Christians).
Thank you Jesus that you speak to us by your Word and through your Spirit. Heal us from our deafness and lack of obedience.