God's Plan: When It All Comes Together (Final Episode)

On a quiet Friday morning, after leaving his uncle’s house, Dennis went to see his Pastor at the church. Fortunately, as Dennis got to the church, he realized his Pastor was just finishing his prayer time and was available to meet him. Dennis was worried about how the Pastor was going to react after seeing him with all his bags heading into the church building but, to his surprise, as if the Pastor had been expecting him, Dennis saw a welcoming smile from Pastor Ken, who opened his arms wide to Dennis and hugged him, whispering to Dennis, “I have been expecting you.”

Dennis was shocked and confused. It was a Friday morning when people typically went to work. What did Pastor Ken know, and how could he know that Dennis was going to head to church when even he, Dennis, did not know a few hours ago? Pastor Ken, sensing Dennis’ confusion, smiled and spoke out gently to Dennis, “I know you’re confused, my son, please take a seat and let’s talk. Welcome home.” As Dennis sat down to speak with Pastor Ken in his office, he didn’t know what to expect, but he knew his being there was no mistake.

Pastor Ken told Dennis that he had a dream about Dennis a few weeks ago. He could not exactly remember the dream when he woke up, but the dream left him worried. He further mentioned that just that last Sunday during church service, once he saw Dennis, he was able to remember the dream. In the dream, it looked like Dennis had some struggles coming his way, but the angel of the Lord stood beside Dennis through it all. Pastor Ken, after remembering this on Sunday, prayed about it each day. He still could not shake that sense of worry and dread from the dream, but he made sure to pray and commit Dennis to God’s hands throughout the week. On the morning of Dennis’ visit, the Pastor woke up thinking about Dennis, this time, not with a sense of worry or dread but with peace and calmness. He didn’t know exactly what was going to happen that morning, but he knew that he was going to be of help to Dennis.

As Pastor Ken spoke, Dennis just opened his mouth in shock. He knew God was real. He had read so many things in the Bible about the supernatural acts of God in the days of old, but he never knew he could experience and encounter something as supernatural as this, especially as direct and as personal as this. He had experienced the general goodness of God—he had good health, a generally okay family, and was able to get a good job one way or the other—but for God to show up for him like this, in his lowest moment, just blew his mind. Even without knowing the full extent of the help that Pastor Ken was going to provide for him, Dennis knelt in tears and just started praising and worshiping God. Truly, he had made his way home, and God had prepared the way for him. Afterward, Dennis started explaining what happened, and as he spoke, it became clearer to Pastor Ken the details and extent of his help to Dennis. Truly, we serve a living, loving, compassionate, caring God.

Afterward, they both decided on a plan of action. The plan was to get Dennis a place to live, find a way to clear Dennis’ name, and get Dennis a place to work as well. This looked like a lot, but they decided to put these plans before God and prayed consistently over them. They both didn’t know how long it was going to take or how they were going to go about this, but they trusted God completely. A week became a month, a month became two, and just like that, six months had passed with no clear direction or way forward. Thankfully, the pastor started giving him some allowances to support Dennis during this time because of Dennis’ IT services to the church and the immense transformation in their online presence as Dennis began to work for the church fully during this time.

All this while, Dennis heard nothing from his past colleagues or his uncle. It just felt like everyone was silent, and there was no move on their plan, but Dennis kept praying. He believed in purposeful waiting. He knew that this waiting period, like all others, that he had experienced in his life, was for a reason and for God to birth something in him. He learned patience and resilience during this time. He learned to rely and trust completely in God during this time. He learned what it meant to rest in God and trust in God completely, even amid storms, and got to a point where he surrendered everything to God. There were also some free online courses relevant to Dennis’ profession, and he made sure to grow and learn even during his downtime. He believed that this season of waiting was preparatory ground for the next level in his life, and he was going to make sure that he was ready for it no matter what.

In the seventh month after his initial discussion with Pastor Ken, Dennis went to church as he usually did, working from the IT control room as usual, and from there, things began to take a positive turn. After service that Sunday, Pastor Ken came to the church with a wealthy-looking old man who had been in the church for a while. This man went to Pastor Ken right before service and asked him if he knew anyone with a solid IT background as he had a position that had been vacant in his company for a while. Right then, Pastor Ken knew that this was the work of God. He asked the man to meet him after church so they could speak further.

“The way maker has done it again,” Dennis thought to himself as Pastor Ken introduced the man to Dennis. His faith was further rekindled as God, the way maker and Master Planner, had again made a way that no one else could have. What business did this man have with asking Pastor Ken for someone with an IT background? Was the pastor a recruitment specialist? He was just in awe. They both explained the situation to this man and without a doubt, he believed in Dennis’ innocence. He mentioned that he owned several businesses, one of which was an IT consultancy firm, and for a while, he had been looking for someone to head his businesses as that position had been vacant for some time. He asked Dennis to meet him the following day with his CV for further discussion on this.

The following day, Dennis met him, his CV and all relevant documents in hand for that life-changing discussion. This man interviewed Dennis and went through Dennis’ credentials, amazed at how competent Dennis was with all the responses he gave and the experience on his CV. Dennis was shocked at how all his learning during his “downtime” further equipped him for this new role. After the interview, the man knew without a doubt that Dennis was the right person for this job, and right after the interview, he offered Dennis the job. Dennis didn’t know what to say or even how to feel. This scripture came to mind: Proverbs 3:5-6 - “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your path.”

Just a few months ago, he was falsely accused of fraud, lost his job, his home, his girlfriend, and almost lost hope, and here he was, some months down the line, with a new job, way better than his previous job, with all the perks and beyond his wildest imagination, in an organization that initially he could have only dreamt about. If this is not God, then who could make such a thing happen? Surely there were other people way more qualified than him in this foreign land? He knew this was an act of God and, as usual, thanked God consistently and started his new job a few weeks later. It almost felt a lot like the Joseph story in the Bible.

With his new job going well, he reached out to his uncle and shared the good news with him. His uncle was so very proud of him and encouraged him to visit. His uncle apologized to him for wrongly accusing him of the fraud when later on, after further investigation, they found out that one of the managers had planned everything from the beginning and was involved in an actual fraud at the firm. He was arrested, but because of how things went, Dennis' uncle was very ashamed to reach out to him. Everything was forgiven, and Dennis invited his uncle and family to his new home provided to him by his new company. Dennis had made it big, and no matter how he tried, there was no way he could be subtle about it. God had done him well, and he was glowing and reflecting the glory of God at every turn.

Dennis was still sending money back home to Ghana and one day decided to relocate his whole family to the USA, providing them with jobs as he now had enough connections to provide well-paying jobs for his brothers. He went home to Ghana to break the news to his brothers, who were at this point surviving from hand to mouth even with the money that Dennis sent their way. They were extremely apologetic and sorry for all they had done to him. They apologized profusely time and again to Dennis, who by this time had already forgiven them. They were all reminded of the prophecy some years back and praised God for all he had done.

Dennis, however, used this opportunity to speak to them about the love of Jesus, encouraging them to also strive to know God for themselves. As Dennis’ life encouraged the brothers, they repented and asked God for forgiveness and also started having a personal relationship with God. Not long after arriving in the USA, one of them even became a pastor who encouraged people to also draw closer to God and avoid envying other people. He even wrote a book on the disadvantages of envy. Truly, God is a God of redemption. No matter how far we have fallen, He always welcomes us back home and can use us for His good no matter our past and baggage.

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Truly, God is amazing. His plans always stand no matter the curves and bends, and God can use us no matter the troubles we might have caused in the past. Let's strive to draw closer to God. Hope this short story encouraged you today. Please let me know what you learned from this story in the comments section below and please share it with a friend. Stay blessed.