Some prayers I pray daily, without fail. One of them is this: “Lord, please establish my thoughts and order my steps this day.” Such promises are in His word, and I believe that every day when I pray this prayer, God does just what it asks.
One recent morning, I put on some warm, fuzzy purple socks to pounce around the house in. I wore slip on heels to work that day and totally forgot to take off the socks. About halfway to work, I happened to glance down, and I almost stopped the car as I noticed my purple socks—glaring. So I thought, “I’ll just stop by Walgreen’s and get some knee-highs.” Driving down the street rocking my praise, I hastily turned into what I thought was the driveway for Walgreen’s. Instead, it was a closed restaurant. Just as I was about to drive out of the parking lot, I noticed a homeless woman, who seemed to come out of nowhere, and she and I both just stopped and stared at each other. I knew in that instant this was a meeting God had gently guided me to. She slowly walked over to the car as I rolled down the window.
I immediately asked her if she was hungry, and as she nodded I proceeded to give her most of what I had packed for my lunch. She was so excited and asked if I were a “God person.” I said, “Yes Ma’am, I am.” I asked if she knew that God loved her. “Oh yea; I’m still alive.” I then steered the conversation to the Bible, specifically Romans 10:9. She said, “Oh I know all about that,” and she kept mentioning her “brother” who was really beat up and bruised and suffered a lot. It was almost as if this brother she spoke about was Jesus Himself—whom we know suffered greatly on the cross as payment for our sins. Since she “knew all about Romans 10:9,” I asked had she actually done what it said. Her response: “H--- yea!” We had a good laugh.
“I’m thirsty,” she said. I had two water bottles, both less than half empty. I poured one into the other and gave it to her. Her grin widened. “You got a lot of clothes," she stated emphatically. "Don’t you? I need some clothes; I’m freezing.” I remembered I had packed some workout clothes for later that evening, so I handed her the bag and informed her that she now had a new T-shirt, pants and socks. At the word “pants” she lit up like a 5-year-old, which made my heart smile. With the biggest grin, she declared that God had blessed her that day. I responded by asking if I could read some of His word to her. So we read a little. She asked me for the third time if I had any (Christian) literature. She seemed just as eager to have the literature about God as much as the food, water and clothing. I was so enjoying meeting Gigi.
As a parting word, I told her that Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me” (Matthew 25: 40). I explained to her that in other words, everything I had given her this day, I was really giving to Jesus ... He was the one who used me to bless her that day. At those words, she closed her eyes, and she had the most peaceful countenance. She asked for a hug and I obliged. Yes, she was dirty, and her hair needed a wash badly, but that didn’t matter in that moment. I knew that Jesus would have given her a hug, too. In fact, He did—through me.
I knew that the Holy Spirit didn’t want me to change my purple socks that morning; He knew I would want to change them and attempt to stop at Walgreen’s; and He knew I would make the mistake I did—and find Gigi. He needed to bless one of His children. When you find yourself in a strange place, don’t always be in such a hurry to leave. Stop, assess your surroundings, and consider the possibility that you may be just where God wants you. He may be using you to give Him food, something to drink, and clothing for His journey ... that He takes every day and distributes as needed … as He walks with—and sometimes carries—His precious children. I’m so grateful that He guides our footsteps, even when we’re wearing purple socks.
Scripture of the Day: "For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me." - Matthew 25:35-36
No comments:
Post a Comment