In 1998, while still living in South Africa, I was reading a book about a great man of faith. In the book he was telling of how God had moved mountains for him and how he had seen God do impossible things. One of the things that really stuck with me was when he said that when we ask God for something we need to be specific. We need to stick to what we are believing God for, and not waver.

Well I took this to heart.

A friend of mine was getting married in Cape Town in early January and had invited me to the wedding. It was around July and I figured I had plenty of time to earn the money for the two hour plane ticket from Durban to Cape Town. I excitedly agreed to go.

I asked God for a plane ticket to Cape Town and began to believe him for money to attend the wedding. I was a student at the time and my income was very low, only earning money waiting tables at a local restaurant.

The months rolled by and by the end of December I still had no money to purchase a plane ticket. In early January my friend called and asked if I was still coming to the wedding. I was put on the spot, I had not seen the provision needed to get there but I had asked God for a plane ticket and the Bible says, “Ask and you shall receive” (see Matthew 7:7). I replied, “Yes of course I’m coming.”  My mind began to panic. I had now firmly committed to something I knew I had no natural provision for getting there. The wedding was on a Friday and at the beginning of the week there was still no sign of a plane ticket. I began to ask God what I needed to do. I looked through the scriptures around faith and all I could find was in James 2:17, which says that faith without deeds is dead.

In my mind I figured I had done nothing to show God that I was serious about this and had not done any deeds in response to my faith. I had an idea. What would I do if I had a plane ticket? I would go to the airport and use my ticket.

So, on Tuesday morning I packed my bags and headed to the airport. I had enough money to pay for parking for a few days and I decided I would park my car, take my bags and go and sit in the airport until my ticket either fell out the sky or someone gave it to me. I figured God could do anything. I had read about what God had done for other men and I knew God was no respecter of persons but he does respond to faith.

So, there I was, sitting in the airport, bags at my side waiting for my ticket. Hour after hour went by and still no ticket. Then I spotted a friend’s grandmother. She knew me and she came over to say hello. I knew she was a Christian and thought that this must be my God appointment. She must be the person with my ticket. I was certainly not going to ask her for the ticket, so I just waited for her to say something. When she got to me, she said hello and asked where I was going. “I’m off to Cape Town.” I said. “That’s great! I believe the weather’s really nice there this time of the year. Have fun,” she answered and then she walked off. My hopes of a ticket seemed to disappear out the airport as she left.

I waited for a few more hours and then, bitterly disappointed, eventually took my bags and headed for my car to return home. I cried in the car all the way home. I was sure God could do the impossible but could not understand why He had not done it for me.

That night I went to the Bible study group I attended. I was still feeling disappointed and so I decided to share what had happened with our group. After sharing, a couple of the guys laughed and said I was crazy because God doesn’t work like that.

Another couple at the meeting was also going to the wedding and they were driving down to Cape Town the following day. They said that they had plenty of space in their car and did I want to go with them? I thanked them for the offer and was about to say yes, when I felt God speak to me in my spirit saying, “You asked me for a plane ticket, not a lift.”

This sounds great in theory but here I had a physical way of getting to the wedding. In raw faith (or stupidity) I thanked them for the offer and said I had asked God for a plane ticket and that’s what I was going to trust Him for. If He came through that would be great but if He didn’t, I was prepared to look like a fool. Everyone at the Bible study laughed and said I was crazy. From a natural point of view I probably was, but I had heard about the God of the impossible and wanted to see Him in action.

The next morning I woke up and was just lazing around the house. The next minute my phone rang. On the other line a lady said, “Hello, are you Byron van der Merwe?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“Please get a pen because here are your flight details to Cape Town,” she said.

Wow! I was in awe of God’s goodness! It had been a long haul, but the day before the wedding God had come through. I got the ticket details and headed back to the airport, this time with my ticket confirmation. God is so good. I stayed with some friends in Cape Town and when I arrived at the wedding the following day, we all had a great time. God had supernaturally provided.

I’m pretty sure God used a friend in Cape Town to provide the ticket, but no one officially owned up to buying the ticket 🙂

This is an extract from my book Testimonies of a Good God, more details of the book can be found below

Testimonies of a Good God by Byron van der Merwe

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