We were sitting with my friends one cozy evening and recalling cases of God’s help, in which the events took an unanticipated turn, contrary to how they were meant to develop, which later helped the participants of those events to change spiritually.
One of my friends told a story about his first months in the Church. He drunk some alcohol at a friend’s birthday party and was driving home in his car although he knew that it was bad. It was late and he was in a hurry because his family was waiting for him at home. The only unusual thing that he did that night was that he read a prayer for leaving the house, which he had learned, “I deny thee, satan, thy pride and thy service. I conjoin thee, O Christ, in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.” He said that prayer, fastened his seat belt, made the sign of the cross, and started off. When he approached a roundabout, he saw road police pulling people over. The road police officer waved at him. He stopped at a curb frightened by what was about to happen. He expected the police officer to fine him or even suspend his driver’s license for driving while drunk. The uniformed police officer suddenly stopped and then started waving the man away. My friend couldn’t believe that at first but when he did, he almost cried from happiness because he realized that God was there on his side. Many years have passed since that day but he has never driven while drunk again.
Another friend of mine told how God kept him safe from laying hands on another person’s treasure. He and his wife had graduated from a university and had to rent an apartment, while he was doing part-time jobs. One of the apartments that the couple rented was a small apartment where an old lady had lived until her death. The old lady had been a teacher, so the apartment was literally cramming with old books and textbooks, not only on the shelves but also on windowsills and on the floor. The old lady’s niece who was the current landlady told them that they could move the books to the neighbors’ garage and throw the rest of the deceased old lady’s possessions away – they were no good in any case. The guy spent an entire week carrying books from the apartment into the neighbors’ garage and throwing the rest away. The landlady came to visit them at the weekend. She was looking for her aunt’s mortar and pestle and suddenly found a small box wrapped in cloth. She opened it and discovered gold jewelry in it. The friend of mine looked at it and thought to himself, “What a pity!” It could have been him who discovered that jewelry box, especially since the landlady had told him that she didn’t need anything. My friend and his wife had almost no money at that time, and he was left redundant. It took the landlady just one visit to find the treasure. The guy was really angry at God for that apparent injustice and went to church that night to tell that in His face.
When the evening service was over, he went back home and started recalling cases of unexpected divine help, which he had already forgotten. He realized that God was always there for him and his family, and that He never left them without his care, sending them everything they needed when they needed it. It became clear to him that if they didn’t achieve everything on their own, with their own effort, they would never be happy. He felt relieved, as if weight was lifted off his mind. He felt so happy that he made up his mind never to want anything that wasn’t his own regardless of how tough life was on him. He set out to work hard and rely solely on God. The following day, he received a call from the same workplace, which he had lost, and all of a sudden, they offered him a permanent job.
