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"But God, You Don't Understand"
Based on actual events
By: Hillary Cantrell
"...For this reason, since the day I knew him, I will cease to pray for him, and to ask that he may be filled with the knowledge of Your will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that he may walk worthy of You, fully pleasing You, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in knowledge of You; strengthened with all might, according to Your glorious power, for all patience and long-suffering with joy; giving thanks to You, the Father, who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. Amen." Elizabeth rose from her knees and proceeded to get into bed. This was a prayer that she had said nightly since she and Mark began their relationship last summer. It comes from Colossians 1:9-12, and the night that she read it, she somehow knew it was to be a special part of her life.
Mark and Elizabeth had met at Bible camp last summer. They began talking and realized that they did not live very far away from one another. Elizabeth had been attending college in Englewood, which was about 30 minutes from Weston, where Mark lived and worked. They became wonderful friend, spending most of their time together. They both began to pray that God would lead them in the right direction in this new friendship. Mark told Elizabeth about 3 weeks later that he felt in his heart that they should begin to date, and the Lord had "approved." Elizabeth confessed that she had the same feelings, and they have been in their relationship since.
Elizabeth was now a senior in college. She was having a wonderful time. She was growing closer in her walk with Christ and was meeting many Christian friends to help her with it. One afternoon as she was reading her Bible, she was especially concentrating on 2Thessalonians 3:1. She felt that the Lord was drawing her to read this verse over and over. She finally felt the conviction in her heart that God wanted her to be a foreign missionary. She was excited…she had always had a great interest in foreign countries, so much that her major for the past 3 years had been Foreign Affairs which was a business branch. Sharing with the people in other countries about Jesus would be a wonderful experience and draw her closer to Christ. She prayed about it for at least a week and a half to make sure that she heard God correctly. She had…Elizabeth was to be a foreign missionary. She picked up the phone and called Mark. She asked him to come over to discuss some very important things. He arrived within 15 minutes. He
lived in an apartment quite close to the dormitory that Elizabeth lived
in. When he was in her room, she said, "I have some exciting news to
tell you. I know this is going to effect our relationship, so I felt
that I needed to discuss it with you." She took a deep breath, and
said, "Mark, God wants me to be a foreign missionary."
Mark stared at her in disbelief. "What? When…How? When?" he
stammered. "Well, I felt conviction of the Holy Spirit almost two weeks ago, but I had to make sure. I was hearing right. What are you thinking?" "You just aren’t going to believe this. I’m not even sure that I do…" Mark chuckled. "Anyway, I changed my major yesterday to French so that I would have some foreign language background since God has called me to missions." After a little shock, Elizabeth finally managed to say, "Mark! Don’t you see? ! I’m so happy! This is just God’s way of telling us again that we’re supposed to be together." "This also means something else. I will be here a year later than you since I changed my major," Mark told Elizabeth with a frown. "That’s okay. I’ll just wait on you," she replies as she moves nearer to him to hug him. "Mark, I’m so happy that the Lord has shown us what we are going to do with our lives."
Soon after, Mark left because it was getting late and Elizabeth had to
get in bed. As she said her prayers that night, she said her special
one for Mark, then thanked the Lord for their future together. She
asked Him to give her strength and the means to wait for Mark the extra year he had in school. She then heard the Lord speaking to her saying, "No." She had a questioning look on her face, but thought it must have just been a distraction. Why would the Lord not give her strength? So, she finished her prayer, and got into bed.
All through the week, she was getting what she felt were "weird"
messages from God. One night, she became so frustrated that she said
aloud, "What is it, Lord? What are you wanting me to do?!" She heard, "You go to missions this year. Mark will follow. Everything will work out this way." Elizabeth almost laughed. "But, God, You don’t understand. If I go on over there, I might die and Mark won’t be there with me. He could get lonely and find another girl. I might get lonely and find another guy over there. No, Lord, You just don’t see all the influences here. I have to stay and wait on him." Well, she felt confident that her reasons were valid, so she went on about her daily activity.
That afternoon, she took out her Bible for her daily reading. She was
led to Proverbs, chapter 16. She read the entire chapter, but got hung
up on verses 24 through 26… It was happening again. He was telling her something important. She read it aloud, "Proverbs 16:25—There is a way that seems right to a man, / But it’s end is the way of death." She started praying and heard herself say, "I want to wait on Mark…that’s man’s way…but God’s plan is different. His way brings life, man’s way brings death." She began to cry. She had to obey the Lord’s words, but it was going to hurt badly to leave Mark behind. She cried for a long while, and finally got off her knees. She simply laid down. It was only 7:00, but she was worn out. To her surprise, she woke in the morning with her clothes on from the day before.
She went to take a shower. Afterwards, she called Mark. "Hey. I know it’s early, but I have to talk to you today. Meet me for lunch at 12 outside the dorm." "Sure. I’ll be there." "Okay. I know we both have to finish getting ready for class, so I’ll see you then."
While they were just beginning lunch, Elizabeth came right out with
what she wanted to tell him. "Mark, I can’t wait for you. I love you,
and you know that, but the Lord is telling me to go this year. I have
to obey His word. I’m concerned about our relationship, but I just
can’t let what the Lord is telling me go without notice." Mark takes her hand in his. "Elizabeth, if we put our relationship in the arms of the Father, it will survive, and His will will be done. That’s what matters. We love each other, God has approved of our
relationship…how can we go wrong?" Mark and Elizabeth’s relationship continued to grow over the next three months until it was time for Elizabeth to graduate. She had filled out all the papers and got all her medical requirements met so that she could leave for Northern Africa during the first week of June, only a week after graduation. After the ceremonies were over, Elizabeth and
Mark spent the rest of the day together…having lunch and just talking about how they were going to write every day and how they will miss one another.
During the next week, Elizabeth packed and spent time with her family and friends. The day that she was to leave, Mark came over. In the middle of one of their crying spells, Elizabeth got her Bible, opened I to Colossians, chapter 1. She handed it to Mark. "Read verses 9 through 11." After he finished, he looked at her. "What, Elizabeth?" "I pray that for you every night." With that, she broke out into tears again. Mark held her. They’d only been there for a couple of minutes when he mom walked in. "Elizabeth, honey, it’s time to go to the airport." Elizabeth looked at Mark. He said, "I can’t go. It will only hurt the both of us more. Just hug me, and I’ll go. The year will go by so fast, won’t it?" then he started to cry.
"Yes, yes, it will. I love you, Mark." She hugged him, kissed his
cheek, and said, "Go! You know I’m not being rude, but you have to go." "I love you. Don’t ever forget that." With that, he hugged her,
kissed her forehead, and left.
The departure at the airport was nothing less than heartbreaking for
Elizabeth and her family, but they all knew that this was the best thing
for her because it was the Lord’s plan for her life. On the plane,
Elizabeth cried a little more, but was soothed by a long nap that she
took about 10 minutes after take-off. She woke up about an hour before the plane was to land and felt much better about her trip. She started thinking about everything she was going to learn, and how many people could come to Christ through her. As she stepped off the plane, she held her head high, and smiled a smile to brighten anyone’s day.
Her year in Africa was one of many changes. She had found out so much more about foreign affairs than she could have ever learned in her college classes. This was of the least amazement to her because in that year 45 people came to Christ through her and the other missionaries that had been there with her. She had written back home to Mark and her family at least every 2 weeks. Mark had wanted her to be back for his graduation, but she regretted to inform him that they were not scheduled to leave until a week after his graduation. Mark was disappointed, but he was still very excited for Elizabeth because he knew what she had done for Christ and for all these people whose lives were now changed.
Three days before Mark was to graduate, a fire broke out about a mile from where Elizabeth and the other missionaries were stationed. They had to be moved to another part of the country where it was safer for them. With this, they decided to get a flight home then, and come back when the new missionaries come in. They had a flight later that night. Elizabeth was excited. She was going to be able to see Mark graduate! Elizabeth got off the plane, where her parents were waiting because they had been notified of the flight changes. She was very happy to be home and see the familiar family faces that awaited her when she got home. Mark was not there to greet her though. Elizabeth wondered about it, and asked her parents. They had told her that they had called Mark earlier that day, but he was studying for finals. He was supposed to call her a little later. Elizabeth was okay with that. She had a good time talking to her family about the difference God had made in her life because of this trip, and the difference He was making in the lives of the people in Northern Africa. She was pretty exhausted when everyone left, so she took her shower and was going to lie down in her bed.
Almost as soon as she laid down, the phone rang. She answered the one in her room on the table by her bed. "Hello." "Elizabeth! It is so wonderful to hear your voice again." "Mark…it is so great to hear from you. I would love to sit here and talk to you but I am so exhausted that it’s hard for me to even hold the
phone to my ear." "That’s okay. I just wanted to tell you that I’d like for us to meet tomorrow at 11:30. I should be done with my test by then. Can you meet me at the apartment?" "Yeah. I will be there."
The next day, Elizabeth was very excited to be going to see Mark. She
had not seen him in a year. She had missed him so much, but she had
continued her "special" prayer for him so knew that God was keeping
him. As she walked up to the door, Mark opened it, and ran out to hug
her. As they stood there in one another arms, Mark said, "I love you.
I have missed you." He pulled her back and said, "Let’s go inside. I
have something I want to show you."
As they walked in, Mark asked Elizabeth to sit on the couch. He walked into the kitchen, and came out with some roses. He walked up to her and handed her the vase with the 3 red roses in it. She smelled them first, and said, "They are beautiful, Mark."
He said, "Read the card." She took the card out of it’s envelope. It simply said, "Colossians 1:9-12. I remember! Thank you!"
Elizabeth smiled. "Mark, that is sweet. I love this." She leaned
over and hugged him. Mark proceeded to get down on his knee. "Elizabeth, I have been praying about this since you left. I have missed you, and I know that the Lord wants us together." He took a box from his pocket, and opened it to reveal an engagement ring. "Will you marry me?" Elizabeth cried. He hugged her and asked her if that meant yes. She told him that she would marry him and that she loved him. They got married two days after Mark’s graduation, and left for Northern Africa together that year.