The Telephone Book
Some years ago I took a trip to Puerto Rico. A friend decided that he wanted to come with me, since he had never been there. While we were in Puerto Rico we got the idea to go to the Dominican Republic. My friend had never been there either. I had met a man before, in the D.R., that I needed to get some information from concerning visas and housing in that country.
We took the short airplane trip to Santo Domingo, the capital city. The man we needed to meet lived in Santiago, a city of 400,000 at that time. We got to Santiago and got a hotel room. I searched through the large phone book to find the man's phone number. This was in the days before cell phones, when homes had a land line, unless they were too poor.
When I could not find the man's name, I suddenly realized something I should have know. As in other parts of Latin America, the telephone books do not list the names of renters, only the names of the owners of houses. This man was a renter. There was no way to contact him in this city of 400,000 people (1.2 million today). We already had the expense of making the journey. My friend had come along for what appeared to be a worthless trip. I really felt bad that I had made such a big mistake when I should have known better. I wondered what we should do now.
I decided we should pray in the Spirit. When we do not know even what to ask for, the Spirit is ready to help us in our weaknesses. My friend and I prayed in tongues for about 5 or 10 minutes. Suddenly, I said, “We are going to the post office”. The post office in Santiago is a large building with a Corinthian style construction. I knew where it was. We went to the post office and guess what. He was not there.
The post office was a large building built on a corner. We entered the building from the main entrance on one street. We walked through the post office and exited at a doorway on the side facing the cross street. I was looking in all directions, even into the air. I am sure it looked weird, but I did not know what to expect or what I was supposed to be looking for. (Note: It is not necessary to be weird in order to be led by the Spirit. I just could not imagine why I felt we were supposed to be in the post office.)
We now found ourselves outside on the sidewalk. As if I knew what I were doing, I walked down this new street. It was very crowded to the point where it was difficult to maneuver through this mass of people. Suddenly, I ran into a man. I mean, I ran into someone. We did not collide to the point where I knocked him over, but it stopped both of us. It was the very man I was looking for! We went to his house and I got the information that I needed.
Having the Holy Spirit within is like being plugged into God's internet. All the information He wants us to know is available. Sometime He really makes it look as if we know what we are doing.
July 19. 2023