I believe in the supernatural. I believe God can heal, that angels are real and that God hears us when we pray.

I might as well admit it and get that out there.

After I scribbled the last blog (The first night I met him), I was chatting to my dad who said he’d smiled when he read it.  It reminded him of a rather fantastic (but slightly spooky) experience he’d had with God.

Quite a few years ago, I was travelling overseas a lot with my job and the family (at times) struggled to keep track of where I’d been, so one day, my dad rang me and asked, ‘have you been to Pakistan?’

No, I said, in fact, I’d never been to Pakistan and I asked why he wanted to know.

Turns out that a few weeks previously my Dad had been reading a great book about angels and supernatural things and after finishing it, had (what he described as), a ‘bit of a pity party with God’, saying ‘why haven’t I seen an angel? Why don’t things like that don’t happen to me?’

Fast forward to a couple of weeks later and Dad is at home one day when the phone rings.  Seeing on the caller display that it’s an unknown, international number, he thinks for a moment that it might be me, before picking up.

“Hello….?” (says crackly voice on crackly line)

“Hello..” says my dad, “who is this?”

“This is Abdullah and I’m phoning from the Karachi Hotel in Pakistan”.

Dad: How can I help you Abdullah?

Abdullah then goes on to explain that he worked at the hotel (it really exists…I googled) and was walking through Reception when he saw a piece of paper on the floor. He picked it up and on it was scribbled my dad’s full name and his UK phone number.   Abdullah, wanting to better his English thought he’d call this random English person and chat to him.

My dad is rarely phased by stuff the rest of us would think of as, ‘weird’ so he went on to have a perfectly nice chat with Abdullah. He told him too about Jesus, that he was the son of God and said that if he could, he should try praying.  Abdullah said he would and after a lengthy discussion, Abdullah went on his way.

Afterward, Dad rang me;  ‘Errr…have you been to Pakistan?’

I confirmed I’d never been and no, there was no way a piece of paper with my dad’s name and number could have ended up on the floor of a hotel in Pakistan. We mutually wracked our brains but could think of no link whatsoever to Pakistan or anyone we know who’d been there.

And then Dad remembered the book he’d read and his cry to God…’nothing like that ever happens to me…’

Could it be that God heard, smiled and thought, ‘Ok then…you asked for it…I’ll show you something supernatural.’

I love the idea that there is a whole unseen world around us, full of mysteries and purposes that we cannot understand.  But sometimes, God in his wisdom, lets us play a minor role in someone else’s destiny. 

If only we could see the big picture that God sees…can you imagine what that must be like?! 

P.s Karachi Hotel, Pakistan (and oh, ‘Abdullah’ is not his real name)