Led by the Spirit – vindicated by God
By Albert Ruegg

As I live in Tauranga I had to drive about 90km to visit my friend Kevin in Whangamata. On my way back, I drove from Whangamata via Waihi to Tauranga and had quite a windy country road before me until Waihi.

As I left Whangamata, I prayed while I was driving. I asked the Lord to lead me by His Holy Spirit. Thinking of the Scripture in Ephesians 4:30 which says: ‘And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption’.  I also asked the Lord to forgive me, if I had grieved His Spirit in any way, and to make me sensitive to the leading of His Holy Spirit.

After this prayer I felt quite alert and sensitive towards God. As I drove on this country road , I’ve noticed the odd dead opossum and other rubbish in the road side gutter. Then I noticed a brown rag in the gutter as I passed with 100km/h (legal speed limit). Somehow I felt that I should stop and have a look at it. Usually, I never stop when I am driving, but since I just prayed to be sensitive to God’s leading, I stopped the car. As I walked back to the place of the brown rag, the closer I got to it, the more it looked like some kind of a handbag. I picked it up and took it to the car. A bit further I stopped and had a look inside this bag.

To my surprise I found a wallet with cash in it, credit cards, bank cards and a cheque book. There were also other papers in it, but I didn’t have a look at them. I had a look in the cheque book . There was a name printed on each cheque ‘Harrison’. I now continued my journey and drove towards Waihi.

As I entered the town Waihi I noticed a car across the road that was about to leave.  Right then, this strange feeling came over me again and I was sure that this was the leading from the Lord Jesus Christ I prayed for. Immediately, I stopped the car and ran across the road. An older couple sat in the car and the man reluctantly wound down the car window. I then said to him: ‘Excuse me, you are Mr. Harrison’. He looked surprised and he said: ‘ Yes ‘.

Full of joy for having been led by the Lord, I told them, that I had a story to tell them. So I explained how I prayed and how I found their belongings, which they had just noticed a while ago was missing. Surprised is not strong enough to describe their reaction. They were rather speechless. I gave them their bag and money back, which they accepted gratefully. As I left them, the woman called: ‘Thank you, we don’t even know your name’. I told them not to thank me but rather to give thanks to the Lord Jesus Christ for the return of their belongings.

As I drove away, an incredible, unspeakable joy came over me as two things came to mind. Firstly the Scripture in Romans 8:14 ‘For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.’ and secondly, how great the love of God is as to use me to return lost property to these people, who were not even Christians. Praise be to His Holy Name! His love, mercy and grace reaches out to everyone.

God bless you all

Brother Albert