Page 75 of Hidden Chance

“Oh, yeah, plenty. Like that meeting where I tried to get more funding for Burma. It was a disaster, but I thought I was doing what God wanted.”

“Maybe you were.”

“You weren’t in the meeting.”

“Could God have used that for a purpose you didn’t know about at the time?”

“Like what?”

“All of this that’s happening now. If it wasn’t for that presentation, we wouldn’t have the pictures we needed.”

She frowned. “I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

He shook his head. “We’re like two sides of the same coin.”

Her face flattened in skepticism. “I don’t see it.”

“Your obstinance draws you closer to God. Mine pushes me farther away.”

She sat on the couch and folded her hands in her lap. “I think part of the problem people have is they expect the world to be fair. But God’s kingdom has nothing to do with fair. I mean, look at what the Bible says about marriage, which is a great illustration of our connection to Jesus. My mom and dad used to talk about it all the time when I was a kid.”

“You’ll have to enlighten me. I have no idea.”

“You’ve never heard it said about wives submitting to their husbands?”

“That’s really a Bible thing? Huh. Okay, how do you reconcile that? I can’t see you submitting to anyone.”

“Yeah, well, God often asks me to do things I don’t want to do, remember? But if you read the wholepassage, it also says that husbands are to love their wives as Jesus loved the church and sacrificed His life for them. God’s saying that it’s about both parties laying down everything for each other, not trying to make anything fair. I submitted to God when I gave my life to Him, but not before He gave his life for me. We screwed up this world and separated ourselves from God, not the other way around.”

“So now we have to fix it.”

“No. We’re hopeless. That’s the whole point. He’s the one who fixed it. Jesus sacrificed himself because He was the only one who could fix it. Then God raised him back to life. We should die for the mess we made, but God made a way so we don’t have to. The world’s broken, yes, but God’s the only answer. You can try all you want with your fancy guns and interrogation skills, but it won’t fix anything. It’s all for nothing without Jesus. When I was in Burma, we helped the people there, but it wasn’t just about getting them an education or feeding them. The whole point was to bring an everlasting result, beginning with showing the people God’s love. All we can do is bring temporary relief. Only God has real value to give them.”

“That’s depressing.”

“I don’t mean to minimize everything you’d done to help people. But if our ultimate destiny is death, wouldn’t you want to be a part of stopping that?”

“You make a convincing argument.”

“Do I? You don’t look convinced.”

Hannah’s phone dinged.

“Saved by the bell.”

“This isn’t over.” She grinned, then looked at her phone. “That’s Peter. He’s out front. Am I allowed to let him in?”

“Why not?”

Hannah could see in Robby’s face what he thought when Peter entered. It was the same thing she thought. Her confidence in him slipped as soon as she opened the door.

Peter was in his sixties, but he looked older, and he looked tired. She’d always known him to be confident and unstoppable, but all she saw now was a heavy weariness that made him look like he’d been carrying around the weight of the world.

“Hi, Peter. I’m Robby.” Robby’s smile was polite, and he looked down at their hands when they shook. Even though his face brightened when he smiled, Hannah knew Robby would take more convincing before he’d entrust himself to this man, and so would she.

“Thank you for coming.” She hugged him. “Are you well? You look tired.”

“I am. But I’m here to give you one hundred percent, although I can tell by the look on your friend’s face he’s not so sure.”

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