I ventured out to the grocery store last night after being home sick for three days. It was late. I was lacking energy. But I also needed some basics.
The first time we passed each other the older woman caught my eye. After the second pass, I quietly asked God about it and had an urge to ask her if I could pray for her.
But I was tired. And what if she was, too? What if she didn’t want to be bothered?
I made my way to the checkout and would you believe it, the very last item I scanned had been opened and one of the items in the box was missing.
So I made my payment and pushed my cart to the back of the store to grab the replacement box. And there she was again.
“Hi there,” I said. “We’ve walked past each other a couple times and I just felt this prompting to say hello and ask if there is anything in your life that I could pray for.”
“I noticed you right away, too,” she replied. “You look so much like my daughter-in-law but my vision isn’t very good so I wasn’t sure.” She paused. “She lives in town but I don’t get to see her very often.”
We exchanged some final words and then she verbally passed on the prayer offer. I asked her name (it was Judy) and then she asked for mine. “I’m going to be praying for you, Judy,” I said as we parted ways.
In the past I may have walked away from an exchange like this feeling a little silly or like I had missed the mark. But I know that I am prone to project outcomes and in the past when things didn’t turn out like I thought, I would wonder, “What was that about?” Now I go through the exercise of doing the small things to prepare for the big things. God asks us to step out in faith on the simple tasks to give us faith for the greater ones.
When I got a prompting to pray for Judy, I assumed we were going to bow our heads right there at WalMart and call it good! But God wanted something deeper for her. She is now on my prayer radar and I have a sense that God is working in her life in different ways through different avenues. I took pause as I contemplated what God must be orchestrating behind the scenes. I don’t know if last night was the planting of a seed or the watering of one that was already planted. But I know that God is in constant pursuit of our hearts and I could sense that He saw Judy late last night and searched the store to say, “Who will be a conduit?” And if I wouldn’t have taken the time to approach her, God would have brought someone else–maybe not in that moment but I guarantee He would have found someone. That is the beauty in all of this! It’s not that we HAVE to respond, it’s that we GET to respond. And sometimes we do and sometimes we don’t, but God is always at work.
It’s amazing how your body can be so exhausted and run down but your spirit does not operate in the same way. John 4:32 says, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” God gives us spiritual energy with His Word and when we act on his Word. This was all so exciting to me but then, as I got into my car God (like He always does), added the icing to the already wonderful cake.
I guess I didn’t realize this in our short exchange, but God then reminded me that Judy had given me a clue as to what I would be praying for her. She has a daughter-in-law that she hardly ever sees which means there are probably other family members…maybe a son, maybe some grandkids. As a mama that can hurt your heart deeper than anything. I teared up as I realized that this truly is a gift God gives us, to be able to connect with our fellow humans and spread His love. My life has been full of people reaching out and loving me when I have been struggling and at my lowest lows. The fact that God can love us so deeply through each other means that we should take every opportunity to be a catalyst. I look forward to praying for Judy and and asking God, on her behalf, to work in that or those relationship(s).
I leave you with this scripture and a challenge to us all to be big-hearted with the gifts and treasures God has added to our lives. “Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God’s words; if help, let it be God’s hearty help. That way, God bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and He’ll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh yes!” 1 Peter 4:10-11, msg
If you know someone who could benefit from this post, please share. God carved out a path of intense healing for me and I would like to share it with as many people who need or want to hear.
An extraordinary exchange 