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Reset with Bonnie Sala, PO Box 2035, Mission Viejo, CA (2025)

02/14/2025

Before You Say That…

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. Colossians 4:6

"Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt so that you may know how you ought to answer each person" (Colossians 4:6). That's a great Bible verse, but how do you really do that, in the heat of problems in relationship?

Why is it so hard to talk things out in relationship, especially in a marriage? Probably, say Tim and Kathy Keller because it requires discipline. The Kellers say that you have to "learn the discipline of asking yourself, 'What is the goal of this message I'm about to communicate to my spouse? What's my motive?'" The way you view your marriage relationship can make all the difference in the way you answer that question.

None of us is all that we were designed by God to be, and the Bible describes a powerful purpose for the relationship of marriage. "According to Ephesians 5, the purpose of marriage is to help your spouse become his or her "future glory" self through sacrificial service." Without this motivation, I may use my words to get what I want, or to simply prove my spouse wrong.

If you have a spouse, you have a ministry. You aren't responsible for bringing about your husband or wife's "future glory," but God's will is that we say yes , to being used by Him by submitting our words our very lives, to be poured out in sacrificial love. It's saying, write the Kellers, "He loved me in order to make me lovely, and I'm going to do that for you."[1]

[1] Keller, T., & Keller, K. (n.d.). Cultivating a Healthy Marriage: Planning and Planting. Gospel in Life.com Retrieved June 21, 2022

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/before-you-say-that-2/

02/13/2025

What Story Do Your Scars Tell?

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:5

None of us get out of this life without a few scars.

Maybe you ran through the screen door as an excited toddler or flew over the handlebars of your bike to earn those scars. The stories our scars tell always involve pain. Some are visible, but perhaps the worst ones are hidden. Those wounds scar over deep within and emanate debilitating shame. In our minds, Satan whispers, You're the abused one. You're the divorced one. You're the addict." "The enemy wants to define you by your scars," says Lou Giglio, but "Jesus wants to define you by his scars."[1]

There's a big difference between our scars and those of Jesus. Jesus bore the pain that caused His scars to free us from shame. Scripture explains, "But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed " (Isaiah 53:5).

Jesus was killed by crucifixion; nailed by his hands and feet to a wooden cross to hang there until he suffocated. After his resurrection, those scars in his hands and feet were his identifying feature. "See My hands and feet," he said to his disciples, "that it is I Myself; touch Me and see" (Luke 24:39).

Jesus has the scars to prove that you are of inestimable value to Him. When you accept His healing in your life, your scars then point to Him and tell a new story of restoration and redemption.

Resource reading: Galatians 2:20-21

[1] Giglio, Louie []. “The enemy wants to define you by your scars. Jesus wants to define you by his scars.” Twitter, 24 August 2020, https://twitter.com/louiegiglio/status/1298054999927402497

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/what-story-do-your-scars-tell-2/

02/12/2025

God Will Answer This Prayer

Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak! Matthew 26:41

My friend Millie is 95 years young. Born to missionary parents in China before the Communist Revolution, she's known Jesus for a long time. Millie is vibrantly beautiful, but it's one of her prayers, that I'll always remember.

You would think that your spiritual life would get easier the longer you've lived the disciplines of Bible reading, prayer and churchgoing. Not necessarily, say Jesus followers who've walked a long road with Him. After over eight decades with Jesus, my friend, Millie continues to pray, "God, make me willing to be made willing."

Jesus knew that, in and of ourselves, we would always struggle with what we call our "flesh," our drive to live for ourselves, not for others or for God. "Keep watch and pray so that you will not give in to temptation," Jesus told his followers. "For the spirit is willing but the body is weak" (Matthew 26:41).

I read about another follower of Jesus who prayed this "God, make me willing to be made willing" prayer: a woman named Corrie Ten Boom. In her book, Tramp for the Lord , she recounted surviving the horrors of the Holocaust and of the many times she had to pray this prayer. She told God that He'd simply have to make her willing to forgive the brutally cruel guards of the concentration camp she had been in. Unbelievably, she came face to face with one of the guards after the war. In answer to her prayer, God did make her willing and gave her the strength to reach out a hand in forgiveness.

God, make me willing to be made willing. God compassionately answers this beautiful prayer.

Resource reading: Psalms 51:7-12

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/god-will-answer-this-prayer-2/

02/11/2025

You Can Do This: Your Story, God’s Story and a Conversation

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns! Isaiah 52:7

Anuja Lal is a vibrant woman with dark, soft hair, dressed in a bright yellow Nepalese pant suit. She's a woman with a message.

Anuja Lal and her husband, Deepak, plant churches in Nepal and Northern India and she empowers women through vocational training and micro-enterprise. Her message is this: "We women are pioneers!"[1]

But Lal isn't talking about pioneering in this world, but in the Kingdom of God. She's talking about carrying out what is called the Great Commission of Matthew 28:19-20: "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you."

"Women are natural networkers!" Lal says exuberantly. "We talk about our children, our marriages, our work. Women are about relationship, and we readily invite each other into our homes." Lal says she finds that "wherever you go in the world, women are interested in spiritual things." When the Church is looking for a "strategy" for sharing the hope of Jesus, Lal says, women are it! "Today's world is all about one-to-one dialogue, not monologue. The days of standing on street corners and preaching are long gone," Lal explains.

Here's how it works: "Tell your story, tell God's story and tell how God's story and your story came together."[2] That's it. You don't need to memorize a script, go to Bible school or understand big theological terms. Your story, God's story, and a conversation.

Resource reading: John 20:11-18

[1] Lal, Anuja. “Women AS Strategy.” Lecture, Finishing the Task Conference, Lake Forest, CA, December 7, 2016.

[2] Ibid.

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/you-can-do-this-your-story-gods-story-and-a-conversation-2/

02/10/2025

The Secret Elite Runners Know

Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:16 NIV

In world class running, they're called rabbits or pacers —they're runners who are tasked with keeping elite racers at just the right pace to set the next world record.

Thinking of a runner matching her gait with a pacer gives me a good picture of what the Bible is talking about when it says, "Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16). One translation puts it: "Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives" (NLT), and another says: "If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit" (ESV).

Those elite runners of the world use pacers for both psychological and physical reasons. Running alone is always harder than running in a pack and a famous study found that at a four-minute-thirty-second mile pace, drafting one meter behind another runner on a still day saves about 80 percent of the energy you'd otherwise spend fighting air resistance[1]

Now God knows what He created me to accomplish and the circumstances in which I'll be able to achieve it. Heading out of the race gates of my own life, I was pretty sure I knew what needed to be done and the pace at which things should happen. And guess what? Running by my power didn't work out very well.

The Holy Spirit leads with "unforced rhythms of grace," as The Message puts Matthew 11:28-30. I've learned the Spirit's steps are the perfect pace; keeping in step with Him requires quiet space in my life and time with His Word.

Resource reading: Galatians 5:7-18

[1] Huber, M. F., & Robinson, R. (2021, June 30). Pacers Are Ruining the Marathon. Outside Online. Retrieved May 3, 2022, from https://www.outsideonline.com/health/running/pacers-are-ruining-marathon/

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/the-secret-elite-runners-know-2/

02/07/2025

Who Moved?

Do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. Colossians 1:23

"You're either growing or you're dying." Those words from a famous American football coach apply to trees, marriages, businesses, and human beings.

As much as we'd wish otherwise, flourishing in any area of our lives takes commitment and intention. The temptation to think that we can just coast along is the most dangerous in our spiritual lives. In relationship with God, we are definitely either growing or dying, each and every day.

For years, I went through a very painful time. I couldn't make it without starting each day connecting with Jesus and His book, the Bible. I needed those verses of encouragement that I could hold onto in moments of despair. And then as the years went by, God brought fresh joy into my life!

To be honest, with my changed circumstances I began to watch the intensity of my desire to hear from and follow God wane. I felt further away from Him and I had to consider: "Who moved?" The answer is: not God .

"Do not move from the hope held out in the gospel," Colossians 1:23 reminds me. My hope in life isn't in pleasant circumstances, good relationships, or accomplishments. My hope is always in God.

When we feel farther away, we are the ones who have moved. We are the drifters. That's why, over and over in Scripture, God says, Come back . Listen to Joel 2:13: "Return…for he is He is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love"

We grow or die, spiritually, relative to our position to God. Have you moved? If so, He's calling to you today, Come back .

Resource reading: Joel 2:12-14

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/who-moved-2/

02/06/2025

A New Way to Think About Brokenness

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. John 12:24 ESV

The longer I live the more painfully obvious it becomes: This world is broken, and I am broken.

"The Bible paints for us a cover-to-cover portrait of a world that is disastrously broken, a world that does not function the way God intended,"[1] write Dave Harvey and Paul Gilbert. Our first inclination is to think that something went wrong, very wrong.

But what if there was more to our brokenness? What if God made a way for life to burst forth out of that brokenness? A farmer's wife and daughter says that was the plan. "The seed breaks to give us the wheat. The soil breaks to give us the crop, the sky breaks to give us the rain, the wheat breaks to give us the bread. And the bread breaks to give us the feast,"[2] Ann Voskamp writes.

Something radical, something God-designed, happens inside us in the breaking. "My dad told me this once," Voskamp explains, "For a seed to come fully into its own, it must become wholly undone. The shell must break open, its insides must come out and everything must change. If you didn't understand what life looks like, you might mistake it for complete destruction."[3]

Here's a new way to think about our brokenness: Our personal journeys of brokenness pave the way for us to embrace our fellow travelers, we're unafraid of their messes or of them seeing ours. When we relinquish ourselves to Jesus, new life can grow in us and in others.

Resource reading: John 12:20-26

[1] Dave Harvey and Paul Gilbert, Letting Go: Rugged Love for Wayward Souls (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016), 13.

[2] Ann Voskamp, The Broken Way (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2016), 25.

[3] Ibid., 26.

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/a-new-way-to-think-about-brokenness-2/

02/05/2025

Jesus Welcomes Curiosity

Open my eyes to see the wonderful truths in your instructions. Psalm 119:18

When you were a teen, do you remember your parents saying something like, "Nothing good happens after midnight?

Well, your parents were pretty much right: people wait until the cover of night falls to carry out what they shouldn't be doing or just what they wouldn't want to be seen doing in the daytime.

The Bible has a curious story about a religious leader who wanted to talk to Jesus, but he didn't really want anyone to know about it, so he came to Jesus at night, under the cover of darkness. His name was Nicodemus; he'd seen Jesus' miracles and he was curious. Spiritually, his eyes were closed, and he just couldn't understand the new paradigm of spiritual rebirth that Jesus offered.

Nicodemus needed to be willing to come into the light. "God's light came into the world," Jesus explained to him, "but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All those who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants" (John 3:19-21).

Scripture indicates that Nicodemus did decide to follow Jesus, and you can read about him defending Jesus and helping bury Jesus' body in the book of John (see John 7:50-52, John 19:38-42).

Are you, like Nicodemus, curious about Jesus? If you are, it is God's Holy Spirit that is leading you and He is the one who will open your spiritual eyes if you ask Him to.

"For all who are led by the Spirit of God," Scripture says, "are children of God" (Romans 8:14).

Resource reading: John 3:1-21

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/jesus-welcomes-curiosity-2/

02/04/2025

Much More Than Living Forever

Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. John 17:3

Jesus Christ did not die so that you could live forever.

Yes, you heard that right . Yes, the most famous verse in the Bible says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." The Bible does say that. But knowing God, not just living forever, is how the Bible defines eternal life. Here is Jesus' own definition: "Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3). "Yes, that we will live forever is wonderful," writes pastor Scotty Smith. "But that we will grow in our relationship with our Father and with Jesus, whom we too will one day be able to see and touch, is unparalleled awesomeness."[1]

God created us and Jesus came, died and came back to life from death, so that we would have a "robust, deeply satisfying intimacy with himself—a relational richness that has implications for every aspect of our lives."[2] Eternal life is so much more than living forever.

But here's more good news: we don't have to rely on our own good deeds as our source of eternal life. Scripture says, "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me" (Jeremiah 9:23-24). If you are a follower of Jesus, you can rely on Him for an eternity of continuously coming to know and enjoy His lavish love for you.

Resource reading: 1 John 1:1-4

[1] Smith, S. (2021). The Message of I John. In I John Relying on the Love of God (pp. 9–10). New Growth Press.

[2] Ibid.

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/much-more-than-living-forever-2/

02/03/2025

When life doesn’t go as planned, where do you turn? Joseph never imagined slavery or prison, yet through every season, the Bible tells us: The Lord was with Joseph (Genesis 39).

God is still writing your story, and His presence is the difference. Even in the life you never wanted, you can find hope. ✨

Listen to today’s Reset with Bonnie Sala devotional: You Can Love the Life You Never Wanted. Visit https://ow.ly/x4MH50UQwVZ

02/03/2025

You Can Love the Life You Never Wanted

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forever. Psalm 16:11

My friend Megan sat across the desk from a lawyer and signed the papers. Divorced— she was getting divorced.

"Why did God allow this brokenness in my life?" she wondered in despair. Megan found herself living the life she never wanted .

There were many such times in the life of a man named Joseph. Once the favorite son, he found himself sold into slavery, then successful in his job, falsely accused, thrown into prison, forgotten, then promoted to the most powerful position in the land. And what does the Bible say about every season of Joseph's life? The Lord was with Joseph. Whether in prison or in power, Joseph had hope because of God's presence (Genesis 39).

Only God could have written a life story like Joseph's! Marshall Segel says, "If you love and follow Jesus God always writes a better story for you than you would write for yourself."[1] In this better story that Jesus writes for your life, you always find His presence. "When we have little and have lost much," explains John Piper, "Christ comes and reveals himself as more valuable than what we have lost. And when we have much and are overflowing in abundance, Christ comes and he shows that he is far superior to everything we have."[2]

Thinking over my own life, I can tell you that my version of my life would never have pressed me hard into the presence of Jesus. It's there, that you can love the life you never wanted .

Resource reading: Genesis 39:1-23

[1] Segel, M. (2022, April 27). Love the Life You Never Wanted. Desiring God. Retrieved May 2, 2022, from https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/love-the-life-you-never-wanted.

[2] What Is the Secret of Joy in Suffering? Desiring God. (2022, April 27). Retrieved May 2, 2022, from https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-is-the-secret-of-joy-in-suffering.

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/you-can-love-the-life-you-never-wanted-2/

01/31/2025

Is This As Good As It Gets?

I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind. Ecclesiastes 1:14

Life is here today and gone tomorrow. That's what the wisest man who ever lived concluded.

What if this life is as good as it gets? That's a terrible thought, isn't it? Because the good in life is often overshadowed by our own brokenness, injustice, war and disease.

The person who voiced this conclusion had enjoyed everything a man could want. He was King Solomon of the Bible, and he was known for his wisdom, women and wealth. And yet, Solomon wanted more; Solomon wanted meaning. He sensed that God, had "planted eternity in the human heart" (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

Solomon didn't have the whole picture that's available to you and me. He didn't have the complete Bible, or personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Solomon's final take was that the best people can do in this life is to "eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life" (Ecclesiastes 5:18), "fearing God, keeping His commandments" (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

Jesus Christ came to provide the way to a life of meaning, saying "I have come that [you] may have life, and have it abundantly!" (John 10:10). "What do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?" He asked (Matthew 16:26). Souls aren't saved through accomplishment, human relationship, or possessions. Bluntly put, we can't give our lives meaning; only Jesus can.

"If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way," Jesus said (Matthew 16:24a). "Whoever follows me, will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life" (John 8:12).

Nothing under the sun will satisfy, except the light of life !

Resource reading: John 10:1-18

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/is-this-as-good-as-it-gets2/

01/30/2025

Escape from the Chains of Bitterness

Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, "I will take revenge; I will pay them back," says the LORD. Romans 12:19

How can you forgive someone who insulted you, lied to you and humiliated you for a long time? Now those are difficult questions.

The woman who asked those questions had been mistreated no one would argue with that. "Now I have escaped from this hell," she said, "but I have a strong desire for revenge. I want them to feel what I felt."

It's a natural reaction. But though she was now physically free of this mistreatment, my friend is still trapped with her pain in a different prison: the prison of bitterness.

Here are two facts that are helpful in escaping the chains of bitterness.

One, we don't have the personal authority to punish someone with what they really deserve. God says, "Vengeance is mine " (Romans 12:19). Lou Priolo says when we impatiently try to avenge ourselves it's like walking up to God and taking the crown off His head! It shows a poor understanding of who God is and what He is about. It says, "God, I don't trust You to be just."

We also don't have the ability to do the job that needs to be done. "Suppose" says Priolo, "your perpetrator has done the same thing to 12 other people this month and deserves a more serious judgment than you would give him. The amount of vengeance required by God's justice is predicated on His knowledge of men's motives."[1] "I will repay ," says the Lord (Romans 12:19).

God is serious about sin—it cost Him His Only Son's life and His justice is the only perfect justice that exists. You can trust Him to get it done.

Resource reading: 1 Corinthians 4:5

[1] Lou Priolo, Bitterness (Philipsburg: P & R Publishing, 2008), 32.

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/escape-from-the-chains-of-bitterness-2/

01/29/2025

You Have What It Takes

For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Philippians 2:13

Has God called you to do something for Him? If you're a parent, an employee or spouse, the answer is, yes.

While we'd like to do something spectacular in life, it can be God's everyday call that seems the hardest. Parenting in today's world. Working under that boss. Continuing in a difficult marriage. No doubt, you've had days when you thought, "This is too hard. I can't do this."

That's what life seemed like to the Jewish people around 500 years before Jesus. Carried into captivity by their enemies, they had begun to return to Jerusalem. They were working to rebuild their temple and their lives, but things weren't going well. It sure didn't seem like they had what it was going to take to make recovery happen.

God encouraged them saying, "It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit" that the work I have for you will be accomplished! (Zechariah 4:6). In the same way, the Apostle Paul explained, "For it is God who works in you, both to will and work for his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13).

If you're overwhelmed, here's a reminder: "We're not fueled by strength, skill or striving, but by the Spirit of God, writes Ruth Chou Simmons. "When what you are called to feels too hard, too big, too impossible…do the work with diligence and trust God with the results."[1]

"Not all of us can do great things." Mother Teresa would say, "But we can do small things with great love."[2] Follower of Jesus, God's Spirit enables His call. Start small but start again.

Resource reading: Zechariah 4:6-10

[1] Chou-Simmons, Ruth [ruthchousimmons]. “You Have What It Takes,” Instagram , April 21, 2022, https://www.instagram.com/p/CcmOcbuDtpN/.

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/you-have-what-it-takes-2/

01/28/2025

You Were Meant for More

"I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" John 11:25–26

Have you ever watched a glorious sunset and wished you could hold on to that beautiful moment forever?

While we all have days we'd never want to relive, there are moments in life, filled with such passionate joy, we wish they'd never end. I'm reminded of the time my young son stood sobbing as he waved goodbye to his beloved grandma and grandpa who had been visiting. "Can't we all just stay together?" he asked sadly.

The beauty of the created world and our relationships with one another are affected by separation, death and decay. That wasn't God's original plan and it's not His plan for your future.

You were meant for more.

When God created this world, He said, "Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing plant and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came…And God saw that it was good" (Genesis 1:11-12). Isn't it fascinating that God built regeneration into His beautiful and nourishing world; this world was meant for more.

So when man said no to living by God's rule, death came to every living thing. But in his substitutionary death, the Bible says that "Jesus broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality" (1 Timothy 1:10). Here are Jesus' words:

"I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die (John 11:25–26). The endings, the losses, the deterioration we live with now, are only temporary conditions for the follower of Jesus Christ.

Resource reading: John 11:1-44

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/you-were-meant-for-more-3/

01/27/2025

Does God Hear Me The First Time I Pray?

Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me. John 11:41-42

How many times do you need to pray the same prayer asking God to do the same thing, before He hears you?

Jesus knew that this would be a question we'd all struggle with. He told a story about a widow who had been wronged and needed justice. She lived in a town where there was an uncaring judge who refused to listen to her case (Luke 18).

Day after day, she returned with the same request. Finally, the judge relented, saying, "Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!" (Luke 18:4-5).

This story encourages us to persevere in prayer, but the uncaring judge isn't a stand-in for God. The New Testament says clearly that prayer is based on the relationship of a child with the father. The Bible tells us that we are adopted by our heavenly Father and become His children through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ (Galatians 4:4-7).

Jesus taught his disciples to "always pray and not give up" (Luke 18:1 NIV).

There are times when we need to prevail in prayer, asking God to do what is in agreement with His character and with His will revealed in Scripture. We continue to ask, with thanksgiving, not because He hasn't heard us but because it causes us to keep our focus on God. He hears us the very first time we call, but we expectantly continue to petition Him because His timing is usually different than ours!

Resource reading: 1 John 5:13-21

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/does-god-hear-me-the-first-time-i-pray-2/

01/24/2025

The God of Surprise Endings

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Mark 11:24

Sometimes when we pray, it seems like God is silent. Do you ever wonder if some of your prayers will ever be answered?

In his book, Surprise Endings , Ron Mehl told an amazing story about answered prayer. Roger Simms had finished his military service and was hitchhiking home. An expensive car driven by an older man stopped and picked him up.

As they talked, Roger felt a strong compulsion to talk with the man about his faith in Jesus. He shared a simple plan of salvation, telling the man how he could surrender his life to Christ. To his shock, the man stopped the car and began to sob. He prayed with Roger right then, saying, "This is the greatest thing that ever happened to me."

When he dropped Roger off, the man gave him his business card. Five years later, Roger came across that business card as he was packing for a trip to Chicago. Tucking it into his bag, he decided to visit the man whose business was in Chicago.

Arriving at the business, when he explained he was a friend, the receptionist said that he couldn't see the man, but he could see his wife.

"You knew my husband?" she said. "When was that?" Roger explained that her husband had given him a ride on the day he was discharged from the army, five years ago. As Roger recounted the story, she burst into tears.

Moments after the man had dropped Roger off, he was killed in a head-on collision. For years his wife had prayed for his salvation, but only then did she learn that God had indeed answered her fervent prayers.[1]

Resource reading: Mark 11:20-26

[1] Mehl, R. (2006). Surprise Endings: Ten Good Things about Bad Things . Multnomah Books.

Listen at: https://www.guidelines.org/sermons/the-god-of-surprise-endings-2/

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