This past weekend my wife and I went to Atlanta, Georgia for a conference. Like most people, when we plan to travel we are on the lookout for the best airfares, hotels, and rental car deals. I most often take advantage of Expedia's travel bundles to save a few extra dollars. We had reserved a car under the impression that we would need it to travel back and forth from the airport to the hotel and the hotel to the conference. On our arrival at the airport in Atlanta we made our way to the rental car desk and were met by an already growing and impatient group of travelers. The line was 30 to 40 people deep and there were few representatives assisting customers. After shuffling only a few feet in 20 minutes, a representative informed us that we were currently in a “wait” situation. This meant once we processed our rental at the counter, we may have to wait nearly 3 hours to finally get a car! My guess is they had overbooked outgoing rentals and the "wait" was for drop–offs to be returned to the airport. This did not go easy over easy with the increasingly restless crowd. A simultaneous chorus of “I want a refund” and “How do I cancel?” was met with a reply that we’d have to contact whoever we booked our travel to process cancellations and refunds. It didn't take me long to get off the line. There was no way I was going to wait that long for a car.
Now we had to find our way to our hotel from the airport. Knowing it wasn't too far, Uber was an option. But then we discovered that the AirTrain at the airport connected to a handful of nearby hotels. We hadn’t realized our hotel was only one stop away and unbeknown to me, the conference was being held at our hotel! We had carelessly overlooked these details when booking our travel plans. Once we checked into our hotel I immediately contacted Expedia and within minutes they canceled the reservation and processed a full refund for the rental price. We also found out our hotel required a $35 per day parking fee! This would have cost us another $70 just to park at the hotel. In total we saved $358.99!
What seemed like an inconvenience ended up being a blessing and I realized something about God's economy. I've been studying a lot lately about the “Kingdom of God”. When we are “finding ourselves in the story of God” we also find ourselves being “transferred from the “kingdoms of this world to the kingdom of the Son of his love”. God's kingdom does not operate according to the principles of the world and kingdom economy is so far removed from the world’s. Jesus said we need not worry about food, clothing and shelter because our heavenly Father will take care of us. We are to seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added on to us. Scripture tells us that God will supply all of our need according to his riches in glory. When we practice generosity, God promises to credit it to our account and reward us.
For most of us these are tough economic times. Inflation has reached record highs and it doesn't seem to be getting any better any time soon. Yet, in God's providence I was taught a very important lesson. God knew I didn't need the car rental as much as I needed $358.99. This is how God's economy works. If we live lives of generosity and trust God, he will take care of our every need, even when we fail to plan well! This was a valuable lesson for me to carry over into my life, especially in these trying times. In God’s kingdom there is never lack and inflation does not exist. I needed to be reminded as is printed on our American currency, “In God We Trust''. Now more than ever!