Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Have you ever had one of those days where what you had scheduled gets changed but the Lord still uses the day for His purposes?
A month or so ago I had worked ahead and gotten my work done for the week because I knew I would be going to a surgery at the end of that week. I like to have a prayer with the patient and family and many times, if time permits, I sit with a loved one during the surgery. This particular morning I got a phone call that the surgery had been postponed. What to do now? Well, I had recently received some money for my birthday and I thought that I would go to the mall over the lunch hour and do some shopping. One of the few times that I ever do this.
I made a stop or two at a few stores and as I am walking the mall I pass a small store and it looks like it is someone I know. It is! I stop and have a nice chat and catch up on what they had been doing. Now this particular person was someone who had attended our church, had a death in the family, and then I had lost sight of them. I had written them a letter after phone calls were not returned and I was praying that they were all right. I was looking for an opportunity to invite them back to church.
That day the Holy Spirit provided it. In my original plans I was not suppose to be at the mall that day. Circumstances and God’s leading put this person and me in the same place at the same time. I recognized such as I walked away from the conversation. I chuckled to myself about how the Lord had done it again. He knew that encounter was going to happen even though, when I got up that morning, it is not something I would have been expecting.
Do you notice these same God-induced instances in your life? What encounter are you praying for with a person that maybe hasn’t come to be yet? Be ready because, like me, it may come when you least expect it. The Lord has a way of doing that, doesn’t He? Take advantage of the opportunity given knowing that our Savior will provide the words and thoughts.
By the way, nothing was bought that day at the mall. Something of greater value was received.
In Christ,
Pastor