It's mine! Get your own!
I took Monday night off work because my knee hurt so badly I couldn't stand. But I did do something Monday that I wanted to put off. I mowed the lawn at the church before I went to work. It needed it, to the point that one of the fellow worshippers made a comment to the pastor that was passed to me. I wasn't going to do it, but feeling prompted by the Spirit, I did it anyway. In the pain, I remember sensing that there was a reason for it I didn't understand, but just keep working through the pain.
I did. I like doing that job and I try to remember whose lawn it is that I mow. It's not mine. I do it to serve God. People pass by our church building every day, and I want to keep it looking nice for a multitude of reasons: it's God's house, it's part of the neighborhood, and I want people to know we care about being part of the neighborhood.
Anyway, as I was finishing, Pastor Karl was leaving and he walked up to visit with me for a few minutes. It's more likely that I'll be mowing on Tuesdays when he's not there, or even if he is, I just mow the lawn. He's got stuff to do and I know that. But we have some things going on this week we were talking about.
Time for a quick review. I was hurt, but compelled to mow the lawn. Pastor Karl usually doesn't talk to me when I'm outside mowing the lawn. I usually mow the lawn on Tuesdays but it was longer than usual and needed to be done on Monday. Yup, a lot of unusual.
As we were standing there speaking, one of the guys that used to be in our Bible study class on Wednesdays came walking up the street. He stopped and talked to us briefly...he was a bit uncomfortable I think, but he did stop to say hello. It was one of those little appointments God has for us sometimes. It wasn't the only one.
We're standing there talking about the first guy when this silver car pulls half-way into the parking lot. Behind the wheel is another guy who used to be in our Bible study class. He's talking to both of us and Karl asks him if there's anything we could pray about for him. There was, and right there, we did.
It's kind of odd we'd run into two of the guys from the Bible study...odder still that they'd be within minutes of each other. The part that convinces me that I don't understand how God does things comes with the story the man told us after we prayed for him.
"I don't even know how I got here. I was driving down Washington and something told me to go up 22nd and go down Jefferson. When I got to the library I saw you guys standing there talking and I wasn't gonna stop, but then decided to." That was his part of the story.
God shows up and works things to His purposes.
Anyway, I mentioned that I missed work on Monday and I missed half a shift on Tuesday because my knee hurt. I went to work about 7:30 and when I got there, a few of the guys kept asking me about "signs". I can't help that the things I see and experience happen to me. I don't tell anybody about most of them. But I did tell the ringleader of the three guys teasing me about signs the story I just told you.
When I got to work on Wednesday, they were at it again. Did I see any "signs"? I told them no, but I passed five cars with Oregon license plates that day...three on the way to work. Does it mean anything other than there are five people I saw on my way to work that are here from Oregon. One of them cut in front of me as I was trying to get in line to get through the gate. Accident? Providence? Coincidence? You decide.
Anyway, my answer was no. I can take a joke. My life is crazy and I know it. I'd laugh at me. I often do. But then, there was a little divine appointment for the guys. Right after the meeting, I checked my Facebook page on my phone and saw a meme that said "Trust in the Lord and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall make your paths straight." It's Proverbs 3:5-6 if you want to look it up. I clicked on it and there was a story attached to the photo. It talked about how there are no coincidences.
I just smiled and put my phone down. I called over one of the three and had him read it. He started laughing. I told him to take my phone over to the ringleader who I'd told that story to the night before. Instead of taking my phone he took a picture of what was on my phone and took it over to him. We were working on different airplanes, but when I had a chance to see him, I told him apparently, the answer to his earlier question was now "Yes".
Yesterday, he said something about "signs" at the beginning of the shift, albeit with much less vigor than the previous two days.
I told him that the one we all saw the previous evening was all for him. It had nothing to do with me because I already believed that. He chuckled quietly for about a second or two. I could tell he was kind of thinking about that and as the night wore on, not another word was said about "signs'.
My relationship with God is my own. It works for me because it's unique to me. If you tried to replicate mine, it wouldn't work. You're you! I'm me. God is God and because He created us, He's able to relate to us as His creation. It's more than just trees and mountains, flowers and birds and animals. We're a part of creation, too.
I love that God can use something for more than one purpose. Two guys out of the ordinary routine saw two guys. We prayed for one. You never know what a difference that will make in someone's life. I prayed with a homeless guy once and six months later, he got dead. I cherish these little divine appointments. But for God to take that to someone who was, well quite skeptical, and turn something that was supposed to make me look foolish into something that completely quieted that notion is something only He can do. God has an impeccable sense of humor and has incredible timing.
Scripture says God uses the foolish things of this world to make fools of the wise. These guys thought they were pretty funny and I was pretty stupid. Now they're thinking about something else.
That's something that only God can do. I shared the meme on my Facebook page if you want to check it out. You should. It plays nicely into this story and would help to make the point about nothing happening by coincidence a little better than I could.
Have a blessed day, gang!
I did. I like doing that job and I try to remember whose lawn it is that I mow. It's not mine. I do it to serve God. People pass by our church building every day, and I want to keep it looking nice for a multitude of reasons: it's God's house, it's part of the neighborhood, and I want people to know we care about being part of the neighborhood.
Anyway, as I was finishing, Pastor Karl was leaving and he walked up to visit with me for a few minutes. It's more likely that I'll be mowing on Tuesdays when he's not there, or even if he is, I just mow the lawn. He's got stuff to do and I know that. But we have some things going on this week we were talking about.
Time for a quick review. I was hurt, but compelled to mow the lawn. Pastor Karl usually doesn't talk to me when I'm outside mowing the lawn. I usually mow the lawn on Tuesdays but it was longer than usual and needed to be done on Monday. Yup, a lot of unusual.
As we were standing there speaking, one of the guys that used to be in our Bible study class on Wednesdays came walking up the street. He stopped and talked to us briefly...he was a bit uncomfortable I think, but he did stop to say hello. It was one of those little appointments God has for us sometimes. It wasn't the only one.
We're standing there talking about the first guy when this silver car pulls half-way into the parking lot. Behind the wheel is another guy who used to be in our Bible study class. He's talking to both of us and Karl asks him if there's anything we could pray about for him. There was, and right there, we did.
It's kind of odd we'd run into two of the guys from the Bible study...odder still that they'd be within minutes of each other. The part that convinces me that I don't understand how God does things comes with the story the man told us after we prayed for him.
"I don't even know how I got here. I was driving down Washington and something told me to go up 22nd and go down Jefferson. When I got to the library I saw you guys standing there talking and I wasn't gonna stop, but then decided to." That was his part of the story.
God shows up and works things to His purposes.
Anyway, I mentioned that I missed work on Monday and I missed half a shift on Tuesday because my knee hurt. I went to work about 7:30 and when I got there, a few of the guys kept asking me about "signs". I can't help that the things I see and experience happen to me. I don't tell anybody about most of them. But I did tell the ringleader of the three guys teasing me about signs the story I just told you.
When I got to work on Wednesday, they were at it again. Did I see any "signs"? I told them no, but I passed five cars with Oregon license plates that day...three on the way to work. Does it mean anything other than there are five people I saw on my way to work that are here from Oregon. One of them cut in front of me as I was trying to get in line to get through the gate. Accident? Providence? Coincidence? You decide.
Anyway, my answer was no. I can take a joke. My life is crazy and I know it. I'd laugh at me. I often do. But then, there was a little divine appointment for the guys. Right after the meeting, I checked my Facebook page on my phone and saw a meme that said "Trust in the Lord and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall make your paths straight." It's Proverbs 3:5-6 if you want to look it up. I clicked on it and there was a story attached to the photo. It talked about how there are no coincidences.
I just smiled and put my phone down. I called over one of the three and had him read it. He started laughing. I told him to take my phone over to the ringleader who I'd told that story to the night before. Instead of taking my phone he took a picture of what was on my phone and took it over to him. We were working on different airplanes, but when I had a chance to see him, I told him apparently, the answer to his earlier question was now "Yes".
Yesterday, he said something about "signs" at the beginning of the shift, albeit with much less vigor than the previous two days.
I told him that the one we all saw the previous evening was all for him. It had nothing to do with me because I already believed that. He chuckled quietly for about a second or two. I could tell he was kind of thinking about that and as the night wore on, not another word was said about "signs'.
My relationship with God is my own. It works for me because it's unique to me. If you tried to replicate mine, it wouldn't work. You're you! I'm me. God is God and because He created us, He's able to relate to us as His creation. It's more than just trees and mountains, flowers and birds and animals. We're a part of creation, too.
I love that God can use something for more than one purpose. Two guys out of the ordinary routine saw two guys. We prayed for one. You never know what a difference that will make in someone's life. I prayed with a homeless guy once and six months later, he got dead. I cherish these little divine appointments. But for God to take that to someone who was, well quite skeptical, and turn something that was supposed to make me look foolish into something that completely quieted that notion is something only He can do. God has an impeccable sense of humor and has incredible timing.
Scripture says God uses the foolish things of this world to make fools of the wise. These guys thought they were pretty funny and I was pretty stupid. Now they're thinking about something else.
That's something that only God can do. I shared the meme on my Facebook page if you want to check it out. You should. It plays nicely into this story and would help to make the point about nothing happening by coincidence a little better than I could.
Have a blessed day, gang!
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