Long ago, missionary Barnabas Shaw arrived in Cape Town, South Africa, hoping to preach the gospel. When authorities forbad him from doing so, he purchased an ox cart and started upcountry, giving God the reins, so to speak. The oxen lumbered into the interior, and a month later Shaw met a tribe of Hottentots coming in the opposite direction. They were traveling to Cape Town in search of a missionary to teach them about God’s Word. Shaw spent many years with this tribe, establishing a thriving work that endures to this day.
David Jeremiah writes: “The apostle Paul longed to preach in Rome. When he was arrested in Jerusalem, it appeared his prayers would go unanswered. Yet God, in His own way, sent Paul to Rome, with the Roman government paying the fare.
“If we have a yearning for God’s work, He will open the doors in His own way. If we long to witness, He’ll give us souls in His own time. It might not happen as we expect, but we should always expect the unexpected from Him.” (Turning Point Daily Devotional, 8-28-09)