Last Friday I had the opportunity to pay more attention to God’s angel-messages than despair, and it saved me!
This is what happened. I enjoy playing the recorder, a wooden musical instrument, and was on my way to join a group of fellow recorder-players in a rehearsal and evening playing session. I just had time to stop for a quick dinner, and I chose a well-known hamburger place. Unfortunately, upon returning to my car, I found that someone had smashed in the window and taken my bag of many recorders and another bag with some sailing gear. It was a shock to see this loss, as it hadn’t even occurred to me that these might seem an attractive target. There was a security guard in the parking lot, and he said that this happened right when he took a brief break, and that they had broken his car window, too, taking his backpack. I called the police, who were sorry to hear it, but not able to come out for a few hours, offering the option to report the loss online.
Right when I first saw this, I asked God for an idea, and this is what came: “Nothing of value can be taken from you.” I understood this to mean that since my being is spiritual, and the substance of everything I love is also spiritual, that is why nothing of value could be taken from me. Eternal ideas, true substance, cannot be taken. The security guard suggested I look in nearby dumpsters, as the contents of the bags were not likely what the window-breakers were seeking. This seemed like a reasonable idea to me, so as I looked in nearby dumpsters, I kept cherishing this message: Nothing of value can be taken from me. I also prayed to see that nothing of value could be taken from the one who thought they could benefit by stealing: not their honesty, integrity, purpose, self-worth, or conscious connection with God. I knew I needed to love them as God’s pure child.
After an unsuccessful search, I decided to go down the road a bit to look in behind some nearby buildings in their trash… but no recorders. I stopped to pray more earnestly, rejecting the temptation to mentally catalog the considerable financial loss and give in to woe and sorrow. It seemed like the best thing to do was go home to continue in steadfast prayer, so I began driving that direction. Very shortly, a call came on my cell phone. I pulled over, and the caller said, “This is kind of a funny thing to ask, but do you have a bag of recorders?” “YES!” I answered. She said someone had thrown three bags on her lawn, and one was my bag of recorders. A second was my sailing bag. She had found a name tag in the bag, Googled the name, and found my phone number on my website. She gave me her address, and I was there in less than ten minutes. Nothing was missing from either of my two bags. The third belonged to the security guard, and I called the hamburger place so he could know to come retrieve his bag, also.
I did go on to play my recorders that evening, with such a heart full of gratitude and joy! I feel the decision to abandon the recorders where there was a possibility they could be recovered (rather than in a dumpster heading for landfill) was the Christ speaking to that individual. I feel the whole episode was really an unusual request for prayer on the part of that individual, and I continue to pray for him. Nothing of value can be taken from me, or from him, either. Thank you to God!!!