Zip the Suitcase! Discovering God’s Will Through Others

Written By Lori G. Melton

​(Read Below or Click Here to Listen to the Podcast)​

Hello friends,

Welcome to Ep 6 of our Spring Series. I have a story for you that happened just a few months ago, and I bet you’ll resonate with it—it starts with this passage from the book of 2nd Kings…

“But his officers tried to reason with him. “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So, you should certainly obey him when he (Elisha) says simply, ‘Go and wash and be cured!’ So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child, and he was healed!” 2 Kings: 5:13-14

I Didn't Want To Go.

I had been sick for eight days with a wicked virus and had been praying that I’d be healthy again before our flight.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. This year’s flu wasn’t the merciful 24-hour kind but the kind that hangs on for 7-14 days--morphing from a sore throat and fever to extreme congestion and coughing.

That’s hard enough when you’re relatively young and healthy, but a completely different story when you have a trip on the calendar to visit your mother in her late 80s, in fragile health.

We live 2000 miles apart. It’s agony having her so far away.

Her strength deteriorates weekly. I wanted to make another trip, but life was full. I couldn’t see how to fit it in. Sharing with my husband about her weakened voice on one of our calls a few weeks earlier, he said, “I think you need to go. I’ll go with you. You can’t get this time back once it’s gone.”

So, we booked our flight.

Then, I got hit with the flu !

As our trip grew closer and I still wasn’t better, everything in me screamed to cancel. There was no way I was going to risk infecting her. She’s ready to go to heaven, but I didn’t want to be the one to speed her arrival at the pearly gates.

Two days before our flight, hacking through the call, full of meds and sucking on cough drops, I dialed the airline. I was shocked when the representative told me she could fully refund our tickets.

It sounded like the perfect solution. All I needed to do was say the word. But something told me that I needed to check with Bryan first.

I’d been praying for God to show me His plan. Often, that comes through those closest to us. When I told Bryan that we could get a full refund, his conviction held that we needed to go.

It was torture! My circumstances, my friends, my sisters, and even my mom were telling us to cancel.

Needing to Trust

But I knew I needed to believe that God had heard my prayer — that Bryan wasn’t speaking from his own reasoning, but that God was speaking through him. No matter how I felt, I needed to fight the battle of faith and hold onto that belief.

Sometimes faith doesn’t look like folded hands kneeling in a church sanctuary. It looks like zipping up your suitcase and setting the alarm for 3:00 AM when you’re as sick as a dog--trusting that God is directing your steps.

And you know what? When I woke up six hours later, my nasal passages were clear, and I felt better than I had in weeks!

Clarity Came

I was reminded of a sacred truth--

Discovering God’s will is not something we do alone.

We seek Him individually, watch for direction from His Word, and listen to those closest to us. All these, working together, lead us to God’s will.

Like our friend Naaman at the beginning of this article--whose emotions told him to storm away and blow off the ridiculous instruction from Elisha. It was the words of his servant that turned him a different way. And in that turning, he was healed.

Or like Francis of Assisi, when he had to choose between two roads before him. One was to orient his order and ministry outwardly, in preaching and ministering to the poor, and the other to devote his ministry inwardly, to a life of prayer. No matter how much he prayed or searched the Scripture, no clear direction came.

So he brought the decision to his closest spiritual companions — Brother Masseo, Brother Sylvester, and Sister Clare. He asked them to pray with him and set a date to meet again.

After washing their feet and serving them a meal, he laid the question before them again. All three responded with the same conviction: he was not to devote himself to the ministry of prayer but to preaching and ministering among the people.

Because he trusted that the Lord is faithful to reveal His will--and had heard not only his prayers but theirs, he immediately stood up and said,

“Let it be so.”

And spent the rest of his days living out that calling.

So Much More

Like the trip to visit my mom, sometimes it’s not through our thoughts, emotions, or even our circumstances that we discover God’s will …

… but through others’--especially those closest to us.

Just think of what Naaman, Francis—and all whom they touched—would have missed if they hadn’t listened.

And what we might miss, too.

Questions to Ponder ...

  • When has someone else helped you discover God’s will?
    ​

  • Is there a decision you’re struggling with now that the Lord may use someone else to help you with? Who comes to mind?
    ​

Resources Worth Noticing:

Other articles you may enjoy:

Lori G. Melton
Next

The Gift of the Body of Christ Throughout the Centuries with Author Ben Lansing