God Beyond

A few years ago, my cousin had a baby. When her baby turned one, she asked for everyone to send him a letter to read on his 18th birthday. Any letter. Sealed, addressed to him. She thought it would be cool. 

I haven't seen this cousin in at least 30 years, and I haven't met her son. And I might never meet her son. 

But I wrote him a letter to open when he turns 18. 

And in that letter, I told him that we've probably never met - maybe once (a family funeral, perhaps). I told him that doesn't matter. I told him that the world is full of friends you haven't met yet in places you've never been. And as I wrote that letter, I was thinking about all the wonderful persons I have met in my life in strange places, in unexpected ways, at just the right moment when I needed them. 

Like the six-foot-six white guy with dreadlocks that I met in the middle of a cornfield when I was traveling a long distance by myself for only the second or third time in my life. That guy was a God-send. 

But then, God already knew that. 

The apostle Paul knows what I'm talking about. 

When Paul was traveling in his ministry, he came up against some severe opposition in Corinth. He was feeling the pressure, feeling attacked, unsure if he wanted to continue, and God came to him with reassurances. 

God said, "Don't worry about it and don't back down in fear. I have more people here than you can see right now, and you are surrounded by folks who will support you because they love me" (Acts 18:10). 

In other words, "Paul, there are good persons all over this world, and you're about to find out how powerful that truth is." 

At just the time when Paul needed a friend, God had one for him. God actually had many for him. In strange places, in unexpected ways, at just the right moment, God says...I got you. I've got you surrounded with all the support and love and protection you're gonna need. 

The same is true today. 

I don't know what my cousin's kid might think when he reads that letter I wrote him, but I hope he at least considers that it might be true - that this might be a world full of friends you just haven't met yet in places you haven't been yet. That there is more good around you in this place than there is danger or anxiety or fear. That there is a way to move through the world without being scared of it and, if you're not busy being scared, you might just find something beautiful. Something that might be the best thing to happen to you in a long time. 

Someone, I might say. 

Because God's got people all around you, whether you can see them right now or not.