The God of the 11th Hour!: 'The Road to Joseph'
God’s Timing: Always on Time!
In my book ‘The Road to Joseph’ the answer to Chris’ desire and the realisation of the prophetic dream comes through right at the last minute!
I don’t know about you, but this seems how God works quite often! He stretches our faith and makes us learn to trust Him, just that little bit more, before He answers us.
My brush with the God of the 11th Hour!
I call our God the God of the 11th hour because He is often very last minute! Let me give you an example from my own life. When my father passed away in 2022, the funeral in the church had been arranged around 3 weeks after this. I wanted my dad to have a great send-off: I wanted music, an order of service, prayer cards and a full sit-down meal of Sri-Lankan food. However, within our family there was tension, and I wasn’t allowed access to my own father’s money to do this. At the time, I had no money of my own to use. I was gob-smacked, upset and started to wander if God just didn’t want dad to have all that I wanted him to have. I started wondering if this whole idea was selfish and all about me…maybe it was enough to have mass and the burial? After all, it covered all the spiritual aspects…maybe that was enough?
In Grief and with a limited Faith
I told a close friend, and she felt sure that this must be God’s Will to have a wonderful send off. She said we would have to trust God for this. Well, to be honest, I was hanging onto my friend’s faith because, being in grief, I just couldn’t think straight. A few days later, my friend called me to say that someone had pledged £100 to help me! I was gob smacked. It was very sweet of this person, who wanted to remain anonymous, but it wouldn’t pull off a Reception.
Over the next few days, there were some more pledges of money! I asked my friend if she was actually asking people for money. She said that all she was doing was asking people to pray for me, because I was in such a jam…and they were offering their money spontaneously! Then, I got another phone call from my friend, and she asked me if I was sitting down – I said I was. Someone had pledged £1K! It was a dream come true. With this I was able to afford everything I needed. I sorted out the venue and the music and made a Sri-Lankan mocktail to toast my dad, while my close friend sorted out the catering, the order of service and the memorial cards.
Was the God of the 11th Hour Finished with Me?
Just when I thought it was safe to go back into the water, I was telephoned at work to say that unless a form was filled that day, there would be no burial the following day! This form had been left undone through no fault of my own, but I was left to deal with it. Thankfully, my work let me go early that day to sort this out. And a neighbour, very kindly, ferried me backwards and forwards between the solicitor and the funeral directors.
The funeral and Reception were wonderful. We had an order of service, a two-lady choir singing to a guitar, a full sit-down Sri-Lankan meal at the Reception and a playlist of 1950’s style music playing in the background. I didn’t want the day to end! I felt so loved! What graces were flowing!
Our God of the 11th hour!
