162. BELIEVE IT OR NOT, I LOST MY UMBRELLA AGAIN!
(The Faith Forum Series – Batch 3)
I suggest that you read Article 161 entitled ‘THE CASE OF THE LOST UMBRELLA – IS THERE ANYTHING TOO HARD FOR GOD?‘ before you read further, as this Article is really a continuation from that Article.
Three months ago, (22nd February, 2018 to be exact), I wrote about how God brought my missing blue umbrella back to me, after I had prayed asking him to do so. I wrote that I had done this because I was convinced from my past experiences and those of others, that nothing was impossible with HIM.
I had lost many other umbrellas prior to that, as I always have a tendency of forgetting them in maxis and taxis that I travel with. The blue umbrella was therefore yet another umbrella I had forgotten to take up with me when I disembarked, in a long list of other abandoned umbrellas.
However, I wrote previously, that when I forget the blue umbrella, it was the first time that I had thought about praying to God to recover it, although it seemed like a trivial request. Yet I did and I wrote about how God orchestrated a massive public bus to block my path, just as I was about to cross over the road and enabled me to recover the umbrella. It had just so ‘happened’ that the Driver of the bus had been the Driver of the taxi that I had traveled in to work two days prior, when I had forgotten my umbrella in his back seat.
I had not recognized him and of a truth, had I passed right by him I would not have known, as I had completely forgotten what he had looked like. Yet, God had enabled him to recognize me, despite all the passengers that he probably was used to transporting on a daily basis.
After that miracle, the blue umbrella had sentimental attachment to me. I called it my ‘faith umbrella’ and I decided that when it was no longer functional through use, I would keep the bone of it as a memento, so that I would be always reminded of what God did on my behalf, after I had prayed in faith.
Given that I now had two umbrellas though, I would randomly pick one whenever I was leaving the apartment and about a month after the incident, I selected the blue one to accompany me on my way to Sunday morning Church.
Given that it was my ‘faith umbrella’, I placed it carefully on my lap as I traveled in the maxi-taxi, although the seat next to me was empty. I did not want to lose it again.
On that particular Sunday morning, I travelled by maxi-taxi to the area where the Church was located and then walked the short distance in to the street. After the service, I walked to the building next door on the same property, for the Bible Study Class that I usually attended, after the service.
At some point before the class commenced though, it suddenly dawned on me that I did not have my blue umbrella!
I immediately felt that awful sinking feeling, heartbroken even at the possibility of losing it again and so I dashed across to the Church building and combed the area where I had sat down. Alas and to my dismay, my beloved umbrella was nowhere in sight!
I could not believe it and so, although it was clearly not there, I kept looking at looking, combing the same area where I had sat for the service, over and over again, as if it would suddenly appear. Sadly, it did not.
I concluded, that once again, due to my forgetfulness, I had left it in the maxi-taxi.
I could not describe the sadness I felt at the loss. That was my ‘faith umbrella’! How could I be so careless, again!
I knew it was highly likely that I would never see it again but something in me made me pray, again.
I told the Lord that he had given that blue umbrella back to me the first time after I had forgotten it in a vehicle and through miraculous means and that therefore, I was asking that he do it again because I knew that he had the power to do so. I told him I knew he did not have to do it, especially considering that this was the second time I had left it in a vehicle but because he was all powerful I was asking, again, that he enable me to recover it.
Sadly though, the umbrella did not come back to me. There was no dramatic bus-blocking in the road like on the last occasion and no Driver calling out to me from his elevated position behind a wheel, that he had an umbrella for somebody!
I was a bit disappointed but I just accepted God’s will. He was sovereign and he could decide to answer a prayer with a miraculous yes or a no.
Some weeks later, while out and because I had forgotten to carry the other green striped umbrella I had at home, I was caught in a torrent of showers and was therefore forced to buy a new grey one.
I therefore had two umbrellas in my possession again. Just looking at the new grey one, next to the striped green one, made me a bit sad because I did not have my blue ‘faith umbrella’. Somehow, it was not the same.
My only hope and consolation was that God would entrust it into the hands of someone special and that he or she would use it well. After all, it was a special umbrella!
I was still grateful to God though, for the miracle he had worked and I understood that as God, he does not have to give us everything we ask for, although he is able. I still had that blessed testimony and nothing could invalidate the fact that I had seen God move!
On Sunday 27th May, 2018 (about six or eight weeks after I had lost the blue umbrella again), I got ready to go to Church and as I was about to leave, my eyes fell on the two umbrellas that I now had, the striped one and the grey.
I felt a bit sad again because it was clear to me that the blue umbrella was gone for good.
I held what God did closely to my heart though and I felt a surge of joy in that moment at what he had allowed me to experience when he had enabled me to recover it that one time and so dramatically, even defying all probability. I thought fondly of God’s miraculous hand with that blue umbrella but meditated as well on the fact that he is sovereign, clearly demonstrated in the fact that he had chosen this time, to not allow me to recover the umbrella a second time, although he could have.
These thoughts are what filled my mind (if I recall correctly), as I left the apartment. I decided, although it was risky and I did not usually think this way, that I was not going to carry any of the umbrellas on that day. I don’t know why I decided not to but I hoped that I would not get caught up in any rain, which often fell unpredictably.
I therefore left both umbrellas at home, which was risky but I just did not feel like carrying an additional load on that day.
Thankfully, I got to the service without it raining. Before taking my seat though and although the service had already started, I felt the need to use the bathroom badly, so I went directly there. The bathroom was situated inside the building, at the front of the Church, so people would have seen me move from the Church entrance door to the bathroom area.
When I was finished using the bathroom, I went to the sink to wash my hands and could not believe my eyes!
Underneath the sink, lay a glass stand and on that glass stand was my blue umbrella!
OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!
This was the exact sentiment of my heart. I could not believe it but yet I could. God had done it again!!!!!!
Undeniably, it was my umbrella. I knew every imperfection on it and when I picked it up, it fit right in my hand, like it had never been gone.
This was not the first time that I had used that bathroom since the umbrella went missing six to eight weeks ago but it had never been in that place, as far as I could recall. It wasn’t a small umbrella either but medium in length so it could not have been overlooked before.
I don’t know who placed it there or when but it must have been recently. I also don’t know who picked it up from the seat I had sat on six or eight weeks prior and why so soon after the service and where they had been keeping it but praise God!
Some things were not important. All that mattered was that my umbrella was missing, again and God brought it back to me, a second time!
I gave God audible praise repeatedly, humbled by the experience and strengthened in my faith. I picked up my ‘faith umbrella’ again and left that bathroom smiling, as I took my seat.
Nobody in that congregation knew what God had just done but I did. He had once again worked a miracle, on my behalf!
I serve a God that can do magnificently wonderful things! This was an umbrella that I had lost twice but prayed to God in Jesus’ name twice, to recover and he answered my prayer, again.
When God does the supernatural in my life (and I have had many such experiences) I can’t help but share them with the world, which is why, if God permits me, the book that I have been writing since 2009, will be published one day and much more, to the glory of God. It will speak of incidents where God supernaturally intervened in my life and because there are so many, it will not contain all of them but a treasured few.
I hope to pass these encounters I have had and continue to have with the true and living God, on to other generations. He is indeed a faithful God and the lessons he once again impressed upon my heart in bringing my blue umbrella back to me, TWICE are as follows:-
- ONE – No prayer is too small or insignificant to pray to God. He hears all of our faith-filled prayers.
- TWO – If he decides to answer our petitions affirmatively (with a yes), he does so in his own timing. We cannot rush him.
- THREE – Expect for him to answer your prayer when you least expect it and in a way that you could not possibly predict. Many times he does it like that because he is God.
- FOUR – Faith in God can move mountains. The impossible becomes possible.
- FIVE – Just like how he orchestrated the return of the umbrella to me twice, he is able to orchestrate life events to provide whatever his children may need and every good request. He is a Master at orchestrating because the earth is his footstool and everything in it, he owns and has complete control over. He was telling me in that moment, I know that you have been petitioning my throne for some other requests and I am able to grant them but if I choose to, I will orchestrate things in my own time, in my own way and you just need to be still and patient.
- SIX – He is still in the miracle-working business and in these dark times, he is still showing himself to be beautiful to his children.
- SEVEN – Faith pleases him. Conversely, without it, it is impossible to please him.
In closing, if you are a child of God because you have accepted Jesus Christ his Son into your heart, have confessed him as Lord and believe that he is who he says he is, you may find, even as I have, that people may never acknowledge the things you have been through or appreciate how far you’ve come. You may find that they may dismiss the glorious stories that God has given you and the various testimonies that you can give, of the miracles that he has worked in your life.
Yet, the good thing is that their indifference could never invalidate the fact that you have experienced the POWER, the MAGNIFICENCE, the AWESOMENESS, the GRANDEUR, the SUPERNATURAL, the GLORIOUS DELIVERANCE, PROVISION, PROTECTIVE CARE and FAVOUR of the true and living God, that loves you with an everlasting love.
Keep trusting in God and experiencing his mighty hand at work in your life daily. Keep sharing your testimony of what he did for you and of the miracles he worked.
Now, I have within my view, not one, not two but THREE umbrellas.
God is surely awesome.
(Written on 28th May, 2018)
ADDENDUM
Today is 24th June, 2021, three years from the date I wrote the above Article. I visited a doctor yesterday because I was feeling unwell and he prescribed some antibiotics for me to take, which I purchased right at his office. On arriving at his office yesterday (it was my very first visit), I was greeted by one of his staff members, who just so happened to be Felicia, a girl who had grown up right next door to me as a child, along with her family. In fact, although her family had moved away many years ago and I had not heard from them for many years after that, her brother eventually returned to the property and then so did his mother. When I returned to my native island a few years ago therefore and returned to my parent’s home, they were once again, my neighbours.
Upon completing my appointment with the doctor, another girl who also worked at his office and was writing up the information for the medication, informed me that the antibiotics could possibly produce side effects such as nausea and diarrhea. She informed me that she would call the next morning to find out how things went after taking the particular medication prescribed for that very evening. I told her and my previous childhood neighbour jokingly, that I felt like a V.I.P. with such treatment. They told me though, that it was standard policy. They always contacted their clients after their visit.
I commented that this was nice and I then left the office.
Just as they said they would do, a short while ago, about 11.00 a.m., I received a call from my previous childhood neighbour, enquiring as to how I was feeling. I informed that I did not get nauseous but that I did have two bouts of the other side effect they had mentioned, before I went to bed. I told her that apart from this, I slept through the night like a baby and was thankful to still be in the land of the living today.
She then asked the unexpected: “Did you leave your umbrella here yesterday? I believe it is your umbrella.”
I was shocked. I had completely forgotten! I did not even remember when I came home and up to that point when she raised the issue, that I had carried my umbrella with me yesterday and forgotten it there or anywhere.
My mum had insisted that I take an umbrella with me yesterday when heading out, as the day was quite rainy. I now have four of them, having had to purchase a fourth while visiting another island and having no umbrella with me and realizing that rain intended to pour that day.
Yesterday, I had looked at at all four of my umbrellas which were neatly tucked behind my bed and decided, that I would carry what I call ‘my faith umbrella’, on that day.
I did end up having to use it after leaving a bank and then after that, when dashing from my mom’s car to the doctor’s office. It was only when my former neighbour mentioned it on the phone though, that I remembered, that I had leaned it up on a wall in the outdoor porch or gallery attached to the doctor’s office because I couldn’t take it inside the building. I had passed it back on my way out and forgotten it completely!
I immediately told my former neighbour that yes it was mine. I added: “And that umbrella has sentimental attachment. I lost it twice while living in Txxxxxxx: Once in a taxi and God brought it back to me and then it was missing for weeks at a Church building and then I found it again in the bathroom.”
I told her therefore, that this was the THIRD time I was losing the same umbrella and it was coming back to me again.
We then made arrangements for it to be returned to me, she kindly offering to give it to her brother (who just so happened to be my next door neighbour).
God is so awesome. Imagine, I lost my blue umbrella on THREE (3) occasions, twice on another island and once in the island where I was born, over the space of a number of years and on ALL occasions, God has proven himself to be FAITHFUL. Imagine, on this third occasion, I had not even prayed for the umbrella’s return, not even yet realizing that I had left it somewhere and not remembering that I had carried it with me yesterday BUT YET GOD STILL WORKED, so that it would be returned. His faithfulness transcends even our failure to recollect.
I always look for the lesson or lessons that God wants me to learn or be reminded of when he shows up and does his thing in my life and so I’ve been thinking about what just transpired. I’m not sure I get it fully but could it be that he wants me to remember, that no matter what happens in my life, who likes me or does not like me, goes out of their way to gossip behind my back, obsessively pursue after my business, treat me badly, maliciously or rudely ignore me (some issues I had prayed to him about right before I got the call), that HE will always be FAITHFUL? That HIS will in my life would NOT be aborted by the will and wicked expectations of men? That HE was still God and that I need to keep my focus on HIM, obey HIM and not worry anymore about what people do or don’t do or who the enemy was commissioning or using to make mischief (sometimes under the guise of caring), to try to disturb HIS peace in my life?
Maybe. Whatever the lessons may be, the theme of GOD’S FAITHFULNESS stands out, undeniably. I am just incredibly thankful that He saw it fit, when it wasn’t even in my mind and I did not even realize that I had lost my blue umbrella AGAIN, A THIRD TIME, to bring it to my attention and not just that but to make provision for its return, without me even having to lift a finger, by sending it through someone living literally a stone’s throw away from me.
IT IS A GREAT GOD, THIS!
As Jeremiah declared, I too can testify:
- “Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, AND THERE IS NOTHING TOO HARD FOR THEE: Thou shewest lovingkindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them: the Great, the Mighty God, the Lord of hosts, is his name, GREAT in counsel, and MIGHTY in work: for thine eyes are open upon all the ways of the sons of men: to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.”
(Addendum written on 24th June, 2021)
FURTHER ADDENDUM
I wrote this on 19th March, 2018 on Facebook and it came up today as a memory and I thought that it should have been added to the Article above about my umbrella, so I am adding it here. I wrote of an experience I had while living away from home in the larger of the two islands where I am from. I wrote:
THANK YOU LORD for another recovery. I forgot my I.D. in a photocopying store on Friday evening and had no reason to remember that I did. BUT GOD spoke to me on Sunday morning, as soon as I got up off my bed and it dawned on me, that although I had received the twenty or so other documents I had submitted for photocopying, along with the originals, I could not remember my I.D. being handed back to me.
I dashed to my bag and rummaged through my purse, only to realize that God was right. I had left my I.D. at that store.
I was grateful to God for reminding me but I did tell him that I wished he had let me know on Saturday, so that I could have dashed back to Port of Spain where I left it. I have every confidence that he knows best though and his timing is always perfect.
In prayer, I reminded him of what he did with the library book and the umbrella, when the odds against them being recovered were much higher than my present problem. I placed my confidence in him again and asked that he would do it again.
To cut a long story short, this morning, although one of the ladies at the store was doubtful that it was there and insisted that she had given it back to me, my I.D. was eventually found. It was sitting patiently on a shelf and waiting for me. #HEdiditagain
(Further Addendum uploaded on 19th March 2024 but written on 19th March 2018)
Dear Reader, if you found the above Article to be interesting, informative, edifying or beneficial, you may also be interested in reading the following:
- Note 161 – ‘The Case Of The Lost Umbrella – Is There Anything Too Hard For God?’
- Note 40 – ‘Please…Allow Him To Blow Your Mind’
- Note 191 – ‘When God Blows Your Mind With The Answer And Leaves You Flabbergasted’
