I nervously glanced at the clock. I had a customer coming over in a few hours that needed some photo restoration work performed and I didn’t have the software I needed. I had purchased a new computer and had tried to transfer the software from my old computer but the file wouldn’t open, no matter what I did. There was no way I would be able to work on these photos without it! The only other option would be to purchase the newer version of the software, which would run around $500. I didn’t have that kind of money. I then did what I always do in desperate situations. I prayed a desperate prayer with faith that God would show me what I needed to do.
Throughout the Bible we see God answering prayers at the last minute. In Genesis, God told Abraham to take his son Isaac up on a mountain and to offer him on an altar as a burnt offering. “And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of” (Genesis 22:2).
God didn’t tell Abraham which mountain to go to. He only told him to go and promised to reveal which mountain in due time. Then when they reached the designated mountain, there was the issue of what was to be offered as a sacrifice. “And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together” (Genesis 22:7–8).
I have often thought how hard it must have been for Abraham to have to wait to see God’s plan revealed. Until the last minute he didn’t know how—or if—Isaac would be spared, but he trusted God and God came through just in the nick of time with a ram that had gotten caught in a thicket by his horns.
In Acts, we see Saul being given directions by God, “And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do” (Acts 9:6). Note that God didn’t tell Saul at that time what He wanted Saul to do, but let him know that He would tell Saul after he arrived in the city.
There was an incident that I remember from my childhood that also demonstrates God’s faithfulness at the last minute. My Dad, who was a logger, had been out of work for some time due to wet weather. We had very little in the house to eat, and no savings to tide us over. I remember asking my mother about a cousin that I adored, and my mother told me that he and his family might come for a visit in a little while. Later that afternoon they did, and brought with them needed funds to purchase groceries. We didn’t have a telephone, and neither did my Uncle and Aunt, so my mother had no way of knowing they were on their way to our house, except by her strong faith in the Lord.
Shortly before my photo restoration client was due to arrive, I poured over the internet one more time searching for answers as to why this software wouldn’t work, and there in tiny print I got a suggestion to check to see if a driver needed to be updated. I clicked on the link and downloaded the needed driver, then again tried to open the software. It worked! God had led me to the right website to get the needed fix. Whether it is a life or death situation or a simple computer problem, God always comes through, just in the nick of time.