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But I was not someone who was new to the Faith. Over a period of about sixteen years to that day, I had experienced the working of the Great Redeemer in my life. Over that period of time He had turned several seemingly dead-end situations in my life around, in some instances in ways that had beaten my ordinary human understanding.
So, once the shock of my loss had abated and I stood there before the lamppost where I had fastened my bike a few hours earlier, I could only wonder what He had in store for me this time round.
But what was I to do? Although the city of Hannover boasts of a well functioning public transport service—commuter trains, streetcars, buses, etc—for reasons already mentioned, I preferred going by bike. My meagre financial resources would not permit me to buy a brand new bike again. Even if I had the funds, the events of the last several days had led me to a situation where I did not want to invest a substantial amount of money for that purpose.
In the end, acquiring another second-hand bike on the flea market was the alternative I wanted to consider. Before I resorted to that, however, an idea occurred to me—to call Gary, the pastor of the American Church in Berlin, to inform him of my predicament and request him to make an announcement in church the following Sunday to the effect that if, possibly, there was a member of the church who was ready to dispose of an old bike, perhaps wasting away in the cellar or backyard of his or her home…
Gary promised to do as requested.
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A few days later I received a message from Berlin to the effect that one of the members of the church was willing to present me with a bike! Another member of the church who happened to be travelling to Hannover—a city located about three hundred kilometres to the west of Berlin—agreed to bring it along.
The sight of the gift from Berlin has humbled me to this day.
I was not being presented with an ordinary bike, but the type that in my opinion deserves the accolade ‘extraordinary’! It was a never used and elegant bright red coloured six-gear sports-bike! It may well have been worth three times the value of my first stolen bike. That anyone would be willing to give it for free was beyond my comprehension.
The couple that donated it served with the US Military in Berlin. They had brought the bike with them to Germany, thinking they would need it. That was, however, not the case. Their time in Berlin was just about to come to an end and they had been deliberating on how to dispose of it before their return home. They did not hesitate a moment after hearing the announcement to donate it to a person they had heard many good things about. I must say, though, that up to that time, they did not belong to the group of church members to whom I had close contact with. For the next several days—and even up till now—the mysterious workings of the Lord that led me to the amazing bike has continued to baffle me and occupy my mind.
Over the next several years my bright red sports bike carried me over several hundred kilometres as I went about my daily life in the northern German city that boasted about half a million residents.
Whenever I ponder over the events that led me to the bike, the passage of scripture that comes to my mind is:
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose.”
(Romans 8:28—King James Version.)
True, the Christian may sometimes go through circumstances in life that might lead that person to wonder how in the midst of that particular state of affairs all things could work together for his/her good. How could Joseph, for example, discern at the time when he was thrown into the pit, when he was sold to Egypt, yes indeed when he was cast into prison for standing by principle and not giving into temptation to commit adultery with the wife of his master, that all things would indeed work together for his good?
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To you, dear child of God who might seem to be in a no-way-out or no-win situation, I say this: since we are serving the Lord who knows the beginning from the end, and the end from the beginning, my prayer is that you will draw inspiration from my humble experience, which, though it may seem banal in comparison with the mountains of problems before you, will help you to draw inspiration and wait for the mysterious hand of the Lord to draw you to safety.
Indeed, my experience from following the Lord has left me in no doubt that all things work together for good for those that love God, to them that are called to his purpose—if not in this life, then at the latest when we shall see Him face to face.
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