Yes, I actually said that God can use an M-16!
I recently had a milit*ry friend who just left for training before being depl*yed. Somehow when he went to retrieve his gun it was lost. It took over an hour to find it and he was late too the airport. My friend was strangely calm during the chaos of his last hour with his wife, which she assures me is not normal for him!
When they finally arrived at the airport to check in there was a female s*ldier there, who was also having last minute problems getting her weapon checked in. My friend made his flight, but just barely. The other s*ldier missed hers.
Arriving at his destination for training, he found that his M-16 was once again MIA. He tried to track it down, but no one could "confirm or deny" that his weapon ever existed. So he sat down at the airport to wait.
Several hours later another flight arrived, and so did the missing M-16, and the other s*ldier, and her weapon. As she walked off the plane my friend noticed that she was covered in blood from her waist to her boots, and she was very unsteady, so he reached out to steady her. My friend loaded up all of their gear into a cab and took her to the ER. He spent the night and most of the next day in the hospital waiting for his fellow s*ldier, and when she was finally released they headed on to their training site.
On the surface you may think, "So what?" But if you think about it you start to realize that IF my friend's weapon hadn't been lost and caused a delay he would never have met the female s*ldier who missed her flight, much less known of her existence. And IF his weapon had not gotten lost a second time he would have gone on to training without ever seeing the female s*ldier arrive, much less being there to care for her. And then there's this itty bitty thing, IF the peace of God had not been present, my friend would have been uptight and irritated about the whole situation.
I just had to marvel that God can lose an M-16 to bring a situation together for the good of one of his children. And that His presence, in the midst of what would normally cause anxiety, can bring peace and patience. I have to marvel that God cares about each one of us so specifically to provide what each person needs.
It's incredible to me how God can use an M-16!
