Occasionally we would receive eggs from our local supermarkets, that had been salvaged before being thrown out because there would be a broken one (or some broken ones), and we would use these empty cartons to hold the egges that we'd taken out of the dirty cartons, washed, and dried off - it was tedious, but protein is a commodity that is highly treasured in food banks, and so we didn't mind.
Joe concocted a plan - he began to challenge God, that if He was real, He would supply enough eggs for all those empty egg cartons. He didn't tell anyone his challenge, only God knew.
So he began to watch.
It so happened that the fellow who had instigated the food bank in our town applied for, and actually got, a position in a large city, as the head of one of that city's oldest Christian street ministries. We occasionally traveled to the city, and would visit them, as they had become friends of our family.
One day, one of our other friends was going to the city, and invited Joe to come along. Because he was still off work due to his injury and subsequent surgery, it was a welcome trip, a light in the boredom, even though this friend was quite the "bible thumper" (at that time, Joe had no patience for people who were even the least bit excited about their faith - it just rubbed salt in the wounds of his badly beaten up faith).
The day would be tolerable, just to have something different to do. So he went. They drove a vehicle in which they could haul a big load if they needed to.
Joe stayed at the mission, visiting our friend, the director of the ministry, while his other buddy did some errands in the city, tending to some appointments.
On a break, standing outside on the street having a smoke, Joe watched a farmer pull up to the front doors of the mission in a big farm truck.
The farmer got out and approached Joe, saying, "I've got your eggs here."
Not realizing what was going on, Joe (who was, even though he didn't believe God was doing miracles but he believed hungry people needed to eat, the director of the food bank in our town, and on the board) said to the farmer, "I think you have the wrong guy, i don't work here - the guy you're looking for is standing over there, talking to those people", pointing the farmer to our friend, the director of the mission.
As the farmer explained who he was, and what he was carrying in his truck, the director of the mission said,
"Well, i'm sorry, but right now, we are all full up - our fridges can't hold another thing. Thank you so much for the offer, but we just can't take a whole truck load of eggs right now. But, this man standing here, he happens to be the director of a Christian food bank in his town, he could take your eggs - they could sure use the protein."As he said this, he pointed to Joe.
As this conversation was taking place, Joe's buddy arrived, with his vehicle, just in time to hear that they were going to be filling the back of his truck with eggs!
So they did. On the ride home, Joe and our buddy talked about the eggs, and what they were going to do with them. As they rode together in the vehicle, Joe discussed with our buddy the challenge that he'd made to God about filling the egg cartons, and wondered aloud if there would be enough eggs to fill those cartons.
Even though it was very late at night, the two men were so excited by the time they arrived at the food bank, that they spent the next few hours, unloading all the eggs from their crates, washing them off, drying them, and putting them into the egg cartons that we'd been saving up on the top shelf.
By the time they'd discarded all the broken eggs, they found that they had exactly enough eggs to fill every carton on that shelf.
There wasn't an empty egg carton to be found in the whole food bank. And there wasn't an egg left in those crates from the farmer.
When they filled that last egg carton, and put it into the fridge, Joe began to weep, as he realized that God had just done an amazing miracle! The Lord had answered Joe's prayer, exactly. There was well over a hundred dozen eggs - when i went in the next day, i was amazed to see both fridges full of eggs!
God was real! God IS real! God does hear and answer our prayers! God IS the same as He always was! He DOES perform miracles!
When he came home from that little journey, Joe was a different man. He truly was. God had broken the shell of unbelief off of him, and he began to allow God to work in his life again. It was a wondrous thing to behold!
God still has many layers of anger, bitterness and unbelief to work through, in all of us, but if we challenge God to prove Himself, He always does, in little and big ways, in ways that we can understand.
He's such a personal God, and He delights to show Himself strong on our behalf, as we seek to know and understand Him!
These 2 men are still alive today, and can testify to the verity of this story, but the director the city mission passed away about 10 years ago. I'm sure he's rejoicing in Glory as i write this story out for the world to read, because again, it brings such Glory to our Lord Jesus Christ - for He is the same, yesterday, today and forever! He never changes, and His mercy never fails:
Isaiah 41: 17-22 -- When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the LORD will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together: That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the LORD hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.
