Published April, 2003 In Signs of the Times

A Prayer Answered 

Once a week, I volunteer at a local assistance ministry.  I give bags of food to clients who can’t feed their families, distribute clothing to others who can’t afford a warm coat, and occasionally, when money is available, help clients who can’t pay their rent.  One early Tuesday morning, a young married couple sat opposite my office desk, his dark eyes turned down; her thin hands folded in her lap.  Her voice sounded anxious but hopeful as she explained that they could not pay their rent and asked if our agency would help them. It has been over ten years, but I will never forget that day.  The day I learned that luck is not always a random act. 

I knew that our agency had just received a few hundred dollars to pay the rent of two clients that day.  And so, I asked the couple why their rent was delinquent that particular month. The young man glanced up to meet my eyes as he began to detail a distressing history of drug abuse.  Fidgeting in his seat, he explained that he and his wife were ashamed of their past drug use, but with God’s help, he assured me that they had been leading moral lives for themselves and their two small children.  They had had a difficult time finding jobs, but in the past month the couple had started working, he in construction, she as a waitress.  Soon, they would be earning enough money to pay their rent, buy food, and maintain a stable home-life.  Unfortunately, they would not receive their first paychecks for another week. He confessed that he had only ten dollars in his wallet.  Their rent had to be paid immediately to prevent eviction. As I listened to their story, I felt compelled to help them.

The couple met the criteria to receive rent assistance: they had an emergency and they could prove that they would be able to pay their rent in the months to come.  After their employers were called to confirm their new jobs and the apartment manager had agreed to accept our agency’s check, the couple rose to leave my office.

 Pleased to be able to solve their crisis, I shook the young woman’s hand as I explained their good fortune to have asked for help on that particular day.  I said, “We received the grant money for rent that morning.  If you had come to the ministry yesterday, we would not have had the money to help you.  If you had waited until tomorrow, the money would have been spent.  You are so lucky to be here today so that we could pay your rent.” 

The young woman sheepishly admitted that she did not believe that they received the rent money because of luck.  She explained that she had prayed that morning, asking God to pay their rent.   I looked at her with a sympathetic smile of caution and said, “Well, you know, sometimes that doesn’t work.”  She looked back with a confident smile of faith and said, “And sometimes it does.”

“Yes,” I nodded as I suddenly realized our agency’s part in God’s plan, “Sometimes it does.”