On A Mission from God

I have always tried my best to listen for His voice in my Christian walk, but there are times when I must admit, because of the seemingly ridiculousness and far-fetched in MY mind (that is another subject for another day completely), that I have discounted what God told me to do and went on about my way, now wondering in retrospect the wonderful blessings I missed because of such. There have been times when God simply told me to do something very simple, like hug someone and tell them I loved them, and other times when He has told me to do something that seemed so far-fetched that I have wanted to yell aloud, “You want me to do WHATTTT?” If you want an accurate visual of my face at those times, picture the smiley face in your IM box that is the one of the face smiling with its mouth open like this 0. Perhaps you would have to know my passion for a great sense of humor to appreciate this look on my face in these situations! I honestly get excited when God presents these opportunities because I know I am undoubtedly going to walk away a better person than I came, and so far, I always have! In the particular story below, I was sure God had the man in mind as the recipient of His mission, and perhaps He did, but all I know is I saw something that day that I shall never forget as long as I live! I saw God work in the most beautiful way… I saw Him manifest His works in a manner that even as I read this after months of having typed it up and far from the actual happening, tears still come! Please allow me to share it with you.

The other day, while driving along, I saw a man holding a sign at the exit ramp. I have no idea what the sign said as I did not see it. My guess is it was like others I have seen by the exit ramps that read “will work for food”. Anyways, in an effort to concentrate on my driving and my little girl talking in the back seat, I got a little bit distracted and did not give it much thought. I drove on to my mother's house, spent some time with her (approximately 35 minutes or so), and then started on my way back home. My husband and I had agreed to meet up for dinner in town. While getting out of the car, I again saw the very man I had seen on my way to my mother's house coming up the four-lane. I do not want to go into the specifics here as I do not believe in boasting of one's alms, but I will say this, as I hurriedly walked over to speak to him before he passed our way, with my sweet daughter in two, I felt the presence of the Lord overtake me! I KNEW God had arrived on scene and I was certain he was about to send me on a mission. I knew not what I would say or do, but I had no fear because I know when God sends you on a mission for His cause, He arms you with all you could possibly need, in speech and in action, and this particular mission involved both action and verbal communication with a side order of the use of my sweet child.

The man was not clean shaven or very tidy, but I could have honestly cared less about that. I figure if God looks at the heart of a person, who better are we to look at anything but the heart, as well. And as gross as it may sound, I honestly would not have cared if he had just climbed out of a sewer hole. I was on a mission for God and nothing was going to stand in my way! Our conversation was at best about 30 seconds long and included nothing specific. We did not even exchange names, but somewhere in the approximate 30-second conversation, my 4-year-old daughter got up real close to the man, opened her arms widely and said “kiss”, and with this, the man bent down to allow my daughter to kiss him on the cheek and hug him! I could have almost cried at that very moment, and even now, with just thinking about it, tears almost come to my eyes. It's an experience I could live over and over and over and never get tired of!!!

My husband then approached us three, the man, myself, and my daughter, as we were ending our short conversation and walking away and exclaimed to me…“Did you see his eyes??? He had the most sincere-looking eyes!!! And my husband was right! Although there was nothing particularly prominent about his eyes, like them being sea blue or hazel green, he truly had the most sincere eyes! It's said the eyes are the doorway to the soul! In fact, I've heard it said if the eyes sparkle, the soul is full of life. Now while I've only heard that, if it is true, this man set the example!

Some say they have experienced the presence of a guardian angel in their lifetime. I guess I've simply never given this much thought. I choose simply to believe that the Lord controls my every step and directs my course. But many times in my life, I have experienced the presence of people who have caused me to quickly reflect back to this verse…“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unaware .” Hebrews 13:2. On this day, I walked away with that very scripture in my head, wondering if I had just entertained one.

After the encounter, I got to thinking about how it would have been so easy to have passed this man by without a second thought. I mean face it, most of us have been taught not to talk to strangers. I, for one, was taught just that, but in retrospect I honestly feel he was no stranger. Sadly, I have friends, even good friends, who would have scolded me over this and preached to me about how unsafe it is to go up to a stranger, especially with my 4-year-old in tow, and how he could have hurt me and my daughter and all that rambling that goes along with it, but you see, when the Lord is leading you on a mission, in such a situation, there is no need to carry a 22. I even know people who would be like “You let your daughter hug an absolute stranger?” And just like in that situation and just like always, my response will always be “I certainly did!

I cannot tell you the reason God crossed my path with the stranger that day. We know not the ways of the Lord, His mysterious ways. We NEVER truly know what other people's current situations are…While we can but speculate, God knows.

I heard a saying once that has always stuck with me since I first heard it. It goes like this…”Show up for duty…God will give you your assignment!

God Bless,

Dying to Self