Late last winter, Steps to Life received a request for baptism from Ryan Grandone, who lives in Montana and heard about our ministry from a friend. Ryan is new to Adventism, but it was clear from our correspondence with him that he had a sincere desire to know and follow the Lord’s will.
Our initial attempt to send him some study materials was thwarted by the enemy of souls, and the package was returned to us as undeliverable. We know that the devil doesn’t want anyone to know and accept the truth or obey the commandments of God, but God intervened, and Ryan eventually received the materials.
Knowing how the devil tries to interfere with our plans, as Ryan puts it, to “get right” with God, he related this experience:
I had been trying to get the Sabbath off permanently at my place of work for quite some time. Since the plant I work for operates 24/7 and is a production facility, this was a problem for my supervisors. I must have given them half a dozen different options that would have worked as far as scheduling goes. They were uninterested in my request and started to ignore me, hoping I would give up.
I knew that I had to have sundown Friday through sundown Saturday off—PERMANENTLY! I started to worry that I would lose my job and was deeply concerned about my future. I couldn’t stop thinking about how I could fix the problem and come up with a solution.
Then I realized that I couldn’t fix the problem. I couldn’t do anything without trusting in God for help! With this realization, I committed in my heart to do whatever I had to do in order to obey God. I walked into my supervisor’s office and told him that if they didn’t seriously look into my request, I was going to find another job.
A short time later I was informed that the company would be creating a new and special position for me. This new position had better hours with every weekend off and would be far easier on me physically. Not only had God provided for me for putting my trust in Him, He made the situation ideal for me. God went above and beyond!
It was a powerful lesson that I will never forget. Praise God Almighty!
“[T]hat He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:16–21