Matt 13:52 He said, “Then you see how every student well-trained in God’s kingdom is like the owner of a general store who can put his hands on anything you need, old or new, exactly when you need it.” (from THE MESSAGE)

This week my oldest son learned how to use the tractor to cut our 1 ½ acres of land. This is a major feat for an 11 year-old, as there are many parts of our property that are not easy to cut!

When he was finished, the only thing left was the drainage ditch, which, at the time, was full of mud. In order to not leave a job unfinished, I decided to go ahead and cut that small section of land. It only took me 5 minutes to get stuck! As you can see, I’m quite a specialist in the field of tractorology! But this was absolutely no problem. I would lift the tractor and move it out of the mud.

Or that’s what I thought!

The tractor must have been attracted to the mud, because when I tried to lift it, it tried to return to the mud. It didn’t take long for the tractor (and the mud!) to win the battle, and there it sat with one of its wheels completely buried. Yuck!

I finally realized it was beyond my skill, so I called in the troops (my two boys, ages 9 and 11!). We gathered around and together we tried to lift the tractor. But the affection of that mud for my tractor must have been profound. It refused to release its grip!

“Lord, what should I do?”

I had barely uttered this prayer that I saw a truck heading towards my house. We were expecting a carpet cleaner. Could it be him? If so, he was early!

The vehicle stopped at the side of the road and a man lowered his window. “Get a chain and I will pull you out” he said.

Guess it wasn’t the carpet cleaner!

Now we don’t own a chain, but my youngest son has a short rope he uses as a lasso, and the driver quickly knotted one end of it to the tractor.

“What kind of a knot is this?” one of my sons asked.

No answer.

“He must be a sailor,” I suggested.

The man just smiled, so did his friend.

They attached the other end of the rope to the hitch of their truck, and while we stood behind the tractor pushing, he slowly pulled the tractor out of the mud. The tractor was finally freed from the ditch!

We thanked the man profusely, but he just smiled and drove back down the road in the same direction he came from. Strange. It was like he had come down that road with his only purpose being to help me!

I was turning to start the tractor when my 9 year-old, who had been watching the truck drive away, shouted: “Papa, papa. That truck just disappeared.”

I thought he meant the truck was out of sight–that it had driven behind the trees–and I proceeded to tell him so.

“No, no!” he insisted. “It just disappeared. They must have been angels sent from God!”

Needless to say, we stopped right there and thanked God for providing for us! In our darkest need, where humanly it was impossible to solve our dilemma, God had answered our plea.

I don’t know if those two guys were angels or not, and I probably never will until I get to Heaven, but I am certain of one thing: God provided the help we needed!

Are you facing an impossible dilemma? Are you at your wits’ end and do not know how to get out of your nightmare? Are you stuck in the middle of unreleasable yucky sins? Come to Jesus and ask for His help. He is faithful and will provide. Help is a prayer away. What are you waiting for?

Rob Chaffart