Let me give you a simple example of something that happened to my son. He and I have spoken recently of living ordinary lives versus faith-filled lives. A faith-filled life occurs when we involve God and attempt to make positive things happen that don’t or shouldn’t normally happen.
He had recently been on a trip with his wife and in-laws. It was a wonderful trip back to the Eastern United States. They shared a car for much of the trip, but there was a segment of the trip where he and his wife needed their own car. This portion of the trip was to visit the area of his wife’s full-time mission. His in-laws dropped him and his good wife off at a car rental agency so they could rent a car for a day or two to visit people from her mission. During this time the in-laws continued to sightsee.
When he went inside the rental agency, he quickly learned that the agency would not rent him a car because he did not have a major credit card. He was very stuck. He is a good negotiator so he tried a variety of approaches with the car rental receptionist and even the manager; every attempt failed in his desires to rent a car.
This young man is filled with faith, and he desired to have a car to make these visits. There was a natural desire to just give up and call his in-laws to come pick them up. His desires overpowered his frustrations and he was determined. He knew these visits were important to his wife so he had a deep desire to make this part of their trip happen.
An inspired idea came to him. There was a local U-Haul rental store down the street. The thought came to him that maybe they would allow him to rent a vehicle. He and his wife went down the street and—sure enough— his impression was accurate. Without a major credit card, he was able to rent a small moving van and they were on their way to visit his wife’s dear converts and mission friends.
In this instance, my son’s desires were realized because of his extra efforts and his determination not to be deterred. He also now had a wonderful story to tell many friends of him and his wife in West Virginia as they pulled up to homes in a rental van. Desires make a difference.