Matthew F. Leighty
Executive Director
The battery light came on just south of Chicago, and our summer vacation took an unplanned detour into a Firestone parking lot.
We were barely underway — the whole family packed in — when the alternator failed. We quickly got off the freeway and, by God’s grace, made it to a Firestone that was open on a weekend. Upon arrival, a wonderful serviceman named Tim took great care of our family. While he worked, we spent two unhurried hours exploring shops we never would have visited.
I would love to tell you we prayed right there on the off-ramp. The truth is, we didn’t — though we should have. But here is the wonder: God was providing anyway, before we ever thought to ask. The shop was already open. Tim was already there. Later that day as our family praised God for His provision, my confirmation passage came to mind — a little sheepishly: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” (Philippians 4:6). His peace, which surpasses all understanding, had guarded our hearts all along — even when we forgot to ask for it.
Here’s the thing: God had already given me this lesson just weeks earlier.
On a ministry trip, I had pulled out of the rental lot in a Mercedes SUV — a surprise upgrade — and I’ll admit I was excited. The excitement lasted about as long as the washer fluid did — empty — followed by a warning that the vehicle was thousands of miles overdue for service. Then, right on cue, the SUV began to shake, and the engine light glowed to life. I eased off the interstate and coasted into a gas station just south of Indianapolis — and that time, I did pray the whole way.
God provided there, too. A kind Uber driver named Sidhu gathered me and my gear and shuttled me to a replacement vehicle. I made it to my hotel that night — later than planned — in a simple Chevy SUV rather than a Mercedes. But I learned something: A plain car that runs will beat a luxury car that doesn’t, every single time.
Looking back at that gas station parking lot now, I think of Joseph. He, too, looked back on a broken-down journey — betrayed by his brothers, sold into slavery, forgotten in prison — yet he could say with confidence, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20a). Joseph didn’t find blessing despite the unexpected places; God placed blessing right in the middle of them. Through Joseph’s detours, God preserved His people and kept His promise that would one day lead to Christ.
Our Lord delights to work this way. Luther reminds us that God serves us through the hands of our neighbors. Sidhu and Tim were, without knowing it, instruments of His providing care.
Perhaps you find yourself in an unexpected place right now: A hospital room. A care facility. A quiet house that used to be full. A season you didn’t choose and wouldn’t have planned. Dear friend, God has not left you stranded. The same Lord who met Joseph in a prison cell and met me at a gas station meets you exactly where you are, and He brings blessings with Him.
I know, too, that not every breakdown ends in a two-hour repair. Some of you have stood at a grave side; some have waited for help that never came. God’s Word does not promise that every story resolves by lunchtime. Joseph waited years in that prison, and Paul wrote “do not be anxious about anything” (Philippians 4:6a) from a Roman cell. The blessing God promises is not always the rescue we ask for. It is something greater: Christ Himself, who does not watch our breakdowns from a distance but enters into them and never leaves, even in the valley of the shadow.
This is the very heart of Worship Anew. A television broadcast might seem like an unexpected place to find the church, but every week, the Gospel travels through screens into living rooms, hospital rooms, and care facilities. Through the preached Word, Hope-Full Living, our Care Ministry, and yes, this very Broadcaster magazine, Christ comes to His people right where they are, that they may live a full and abundant life in Him (John 10:10). And He works through unexpected instruments: your prayers, your gifts, your faithful encouragement. That includes you, right where you are: a prayer from your seat, a card to a grieving friend, a call to a lonely neighbor. Vocation has no retirement age. Like Sidhu and Tim, you may never see the rescues God works through you, but I hear about them week after week.
The greatest blessing of all came from the most unexpected place imaginable: a cross outside Jerusalem, where the Son of God gave His life for you. If God can bring salvation out of Calvary, He can certainly bring blessing out of your unexpected places, too.
No wonder the psalmist calls all creation to join the song: “Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice. … Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy” (Psalm 96:11-12). Even the trees along the interstate, I like to think.
May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus — wherever the road takes you.
Above photo by Nick Robins, Photography for the Association for Christian Fundraising: Shirley Brooks-Jones addresses the crowd at the Faith and Fundraising Conference for the Association for Christian Fundraising. She shared about her time in Newfoundland and the generosity of that community during 9/11.