“I feel so healthy, it scares me!”

My 92 year old father-in-law chuckled.

He hung up the phone and went outside to mow the yard.

Two weeks later, he died suddenly.

He was man of faith…

I repeat this story near the anniversary of D-Day as a testament to his life and his faith…

And in the hope that someone facing tough times today will be reminded that God is with us always…

Even on the darkest of days…

…because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5

Perhaps this story will help someone find their own faith for tough times …

Seventy three years ago…

My father-in-law celebrated his 20 birthday…

In a plane over Normandy on D-Day…

It was his faith, he said, that got him through that day…

His faith guided him through many other challenging days…

Here is the story of one of those days…

A story of faith, a phone call, a scam and death.

My father-in-law answered the phone…

“George?”

“Yes. Who’s this?”

“Don’t you recognize my voice?”

“Donny?”

“No! Come on. You know who I am!”

“Bob?”

“Yes! George, I need your help.  I’m in jail…”

“I’m in Mexico City.  I came here for a wedding and got in a car wreck.”

“They won’t let me leave the country unless I give them $1,000.  Can you wire it to me?”

The person on the other end of the phone was pretending to be me…

“Don’t tell anybody,” said the phony-me on the phone. “Just send the Money.”

So George went to the Western Union office and wired $1,000.

George was 90 years old and living mostly on Social security.

$1,000 was a lot of money.

Later, George called our house.

He expected my wife to answer.

Maybe she would say I was on a trip.

He was more than a little surprised when I answered.

I wasn’t in Mexico.

The call was a scam.

He called the police…

Western Union refunded the money…

All ended well.

But there’s more to this story of faith for tough times …

When he got that “Mexico City” call, his wife of 69 years was near death…

Even in a time of great personal distress, George, a devoted Christ follower, was ready to do a “good deed” for someone else.

When the whole scam ended, it would have been natural for him to ask…

“Why me?  Why now?  God, what are you doing to me?”

Is that how George responded?

As he left the Western Union office with his refunded money in his pocket, he thanked God for the way things turned out…

He thanked Him for always being able to rely on His “providential provision”.

That’s faith.

That’s faith for tough times …

 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13