One spring, several years ago, Shondra Pierce, a Christian comedian, was going to perform at a church near our house. I was not planning on going because I did not want to spend the money. God had other plans for me. He was getting me ready to receive new guidance from Him.
The Sunday before the performance, the preacher’s wife came up to me at church and gave me an extra ticket she had and invited me to join her. I took the ticket and joined the church ladies at the performance. Shondra was enjoyable, and at the end of the performance, the hosting preacher announced that some Christian comedians would be coming to his church during the summer, and he announced the date and time.
Then I did a few things that I rarely do. I wrote down the date and time, went home, and recorded it on my calendar. Then
a couple of months later, on the evening of the event, we had nothing to do, and I “happened to look” at my calendar. When I saw that the comedians were coming to the church that night, I told my husband about it, and we went there. What happened that night was life-changing for me and, through me, for others.
One of the comedians said that he was Italian and from New York. He said that in his family, his uncle always “knew a guy”. If you needed a job, a car, a date, anything you might need, he could get it for you. The skit he did was really entertaining. In the end, the comedian said, “I know a guy who can help you with anything you need. His name is Jesus Christ.” Then he proceeded to give a salvation message and invited people to accept Christ as their savior. Even though I am a Christian, this message of “knowing a guy” became very real to me.
A couple of weeks later, in early July, my husband and I went to visit the construction project that was going on at my school. The school had torn down an existing building and was in the process of building a two-story building that included a gym, locker room, classrooms, and labs. I was responsible for scheduling the 800 students who attended the school and had scheduled them into the classrooms in the new building.
When we arrived at the construction site, the concrete building was up, but none of the electrical or other time-consuming parts of the construction were anywhere close to being completed. My husband, who had been a painting contractor, said, “There is no way this will be done in time for the start of school, which is in less than six weeks.” I paused and then responded, “Wait a minute! We “know a guy” who can help with this. Let’s start praying fervently that the job will be completed in time and leave the rest to God.”
Soon after my prayer, I went to work, and the person in charge of financing came into my office in a panic. He said, “The construction project is six weeks behind schedule. We will not be ready in time for the first day of school. You will have to change all the schedules!” My response was, “I “know a guy” who can help with this. Then I told him the story of the comedian. He left my office shaking his head. I never changed the schedules.
The next week the principal came into my office. He said, “We are at least three weeks behind schedule. We will never be ready for the first day of school. You have to change all the schedules.” I responded with, “I “know a guy” who can help with this.” Then I told him the story and never changed the schedules.
When the heads of each academic department came into my office in a panic about where their classes would meet, I told them the same story. My secretary, who was a strong Christian and prayer warrior, laughed and said that “I know a guy” had become our mantra. We all had peace in my office, and I never changed a schedule. I didn’t really know what I would do if the building had not been completed by the time school started. Actually, I never even thought about it. I had absolute faith that it would be done in Jesus’ name. I had total peace, which can only come through God’s grace.
Then the most miraculous thing happened! On Sunday afternoon at 4:00, on the day before school was to begin, the county came to inspect the building and gave occupancy approval so that school could start on schedule, as scheduled, 15 hours later, at 7 a.m. on Monday morning. Praise the Lord! His tender mercies are everlasting. He is not always on our schedule, but he is never too late or too early for His purpose to be fulfilled.
I thank God for orchestrating my going to the Shondra Pierce concert so that I could hear the announcement about the upcoming comedian performance and for the Holy Spirit, quickening me to write down the date and see it on the day of the performance. This experience was a great faith builder for me, as I hope it will be for you.
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