I am currently back in the States on a 12-day whirlwind tour through the Upper Midwest, networking with several delightful congregations who have asked me to share how the Lord is growing His Kingdom among Persian speakers in Germany and through Riga Luther Academy.My travel plans last week were to take a train from Kaiserslautern via Mannheim to Frankfurt, from where I would catch a stateside flight early the next morning. When I got to the platform, the display read: “Train canceled”—due to a rail workers’ strike. (I knew about this strike, but the German railway app had said that the train would be running). Now what? I needed to get to Frankfurt! As I contemplated my next move, I prayed for guidance. Within about a minute, an empty train pulled up. I got on board—and was astonished to see that I was the only passenger except for one woman in the next car. I could not help but think of the “Twilight Zone. Was I boarding a train into eternity? Sure enough, we reached Mannheim—even much more quickly than is usually the case.But I still had to get to Frankfurt Airport… With the strike in mind, Lula had purchased a bus ticket for me—on a line I had never heard of. I walked over to the bus depot and asked five different people about that company. No one had ever heard of that carrier, nor where there any signs, advertising, or anything pertaining to that company. I was already thinking about taking a taxi. But then, right on time, a brand-new double-decker bus with that company logo pulled up. I got on board: it was completely empty, except for one woman. First a ghost train, now a ghost bus. Weird! But, praise God, I did get to the airport and was able to catch my flight to the States the next day.Good luck? Coincidence? Not at all. God was working behind the scenes to get me where I needed to be. Remember that everything and anything good in *your* life, too, is not good luck or coincidence: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is *from above*, coming down from the Father of lights” (James 1:17, ESV).
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