You’re in public, surrounded by people who you don’t know and all of a sudden you get the urge to sit by someone and talk with them. Why do you have this urge? Why are you interested in talking with this person you don’t even know? The truth is, you may not know, yet you do it anyway. You sit down and converse with this person even though talking with them wouldn’t be the normal thing to do since you have never talked with them before. There have been a lot of times in my life where I have been in situations just like this and the outcomes have been nothing short of gifts from God.
My mother also has a collection of stories where she satisfied an urge that the Lord gave to her. For example, about seven years ago, at the church that we used to go to, there was a ladies retreat that my mother attended. During this retreat, a woman who was just merely an acquaintance of my mother’s, walked down the isle in the middle of a speaker’s speech and asked my mom to follow her. When my mom and this lady were at a place where they could talk, this woman told her that she felt like committing suicide. My mom then prayed with her and asked God to alert her, day or night, when this lady needed to be prayed for. The next morning at three o’clock, my mother woke up and her thoughts were flooded with this woman. She immediately remembered asking the Lord to alert her when this lady needed prayer so she began to pray for her. The next day, my mom called to check on this woman and she said that the night before she was indeed in need of prayer! Not only did she need prayer, but the time when she was having trouble was at three in the morning!
Another great story of a time when my mom did something that she felt the Lord was telling her to do, even though it didn’t make sense, was during Easter one year. The Lord has blessed my mother with great creativity and she uses this gift in her soap business called “Heavenly Scent Soapsuds”. This soap business isn’t just a business to her though, it’s a ministry--my mom includes a business card in the soap packages that tells people about Christ. During Easter, my mom felt God tugging at her heart to take a bar of soap to the grocery store and give it to someone who needed to be pampered. It turns out that when my mom got to the store there was a woman who had to work the night shift and was exhausted. My mom didn’t know this at the time, but she randomly talked with this woman and the lady was amazed at the blessing provided to her by my mom! The soap was even the lady’s favorite color and scent!
Many times we tend to stay in our own bubble and not communicate with others. We get in the habit of only talking to those who we know and are comfortable talking with. It’s not natural for many of us to be so outgoing but Hebrews 13:1-2 says, "Continue to love each other with true Christian love. Don't forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!"
Are there times when the Lord puts you in a situation to help someone but you ignore them and continue on? Do you sometimes have an urge to take a leap of faith and do what you feel God is telling you to do but instead you don’t follow through? We are called to love one another and treat each other as we would want to be treated (Matthew 7:12). Dig deep into God’s word and mirror God’s example of supporting and loving others, even if the method you feel God is leading you to use feels weird.
No comments:
Post a Comment