“The people I love, I call to account-prod and correct and guide so that they’ll live at their best. Up on your feet, then! About face! Run after God!” (Rev 3:19, MSG)

Within the ten minutes I had to book a room before leaving for the airport in London, I succeeded in booking one for only one person. Where would one of us sleep? On the street? I had done a big booboo. With the hotel confirmation in hand, we had to rush to the airport for our plane that was due to leave within the hour (See The Next Day of Heathrow’s Hunger Games. Facing Unimaginable Odds, Part 28b). We barely had enough time to cancel the room via the meager WIFI from the airport before we had to board the plane, and now that we were comfortably settled in our seats, we still had no room for the upcoming night!

What should we do when in such a dilemma? My wife is keen on that. She started to pray, and immediately she came up with a wonderful idea: Why not call the host of our Bed and Breakfast that we had previously reserved in Inverness for the next day? Maybe she would be able to put us up for two nights instead of one! We had been supposed to fly to Aberdeen and then Kirkwall after landing in London, all before we flew to Inverness; however, the thunder storm had changed our plans drastically.

We didn’t have much time before takeoff and the cell phone was almost dead, as our charger was in the luggage that we had no access to. My wife quickly phoned our hostess in Inverness, and she told us to not worry, she would arrange everything by the time we landed in Edinburgh. Sure enough, upon landing, we had just enough cell phone power left to make the call to Inverness, and the hostess had a room for us. She had actually cancelled our reservation with her altogether, as she didn’t have any space for two nights; but she had taken it upon herself to find us a room for two, for two nights, just a few streets over. Talk about being made to feel like royalty! We were more important to her than her own business! This is real Scottish hospitality, and she was our human guardian angel.

Once we place our burdens in our Heavenly Father’s hands, we don’t have to worry any longer. Why not place all of our loads in his care, then we truly have nothing to be concerned about.

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me-watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you.” (Matt 11:28-29, MSG)

Do you need a room by any chance?

Rob Chaffart