Our God, Still Here, Still Speaking

In thinking about this month’s HEARTstrong themes of Mission and Purpose, I was reminded of something that happened a couple of years ago on Valentine’s Day. Long story about why I was there, but I was parked outside a Country Style Donut Shop, at a gas station, in a small town outside of Ottawa, at night, on Valentine’s Day, waiting for my son to finish teaching a drum lesson at a location nearby. It had been a very tough week. I had brought a book with me and was planning to treat myself to a coffee and donut and read for the 45 minutes or so that I had to wait. I was reading “The Upside of Adversity” by Os Hillman. I thought this would really hit the spot for the moment of life I was living at that time. As I pulled into the parking lot, my son texted me to let me know his friend would pick him up so I didn’t have to wait. Change of plans, OK, so I thought I’ll go inside this donut shop, get some donuts for the family, and drive back home.

I went into the store, and there were no donuts left. Funny that I’m noticing lately that late-night donut shops do not seem to have any donuts left. This actually strikes me really funny and makes me want to laugh out loud! I mean, if you’re a donut shop, shouldn’t you always have donuts? Anyway, back to the story, a lady was working there, and she was very kind, but there was something I noticed about her, a little bit of sadness maybe? Anyway, I went out of my way to be very kind to her while I purchased brownies. She said I could pay at the cash. A young man was working the cash, and I noticed on the counter boxes of “Merci” chocolates. This caught my attention as earlier in the day, my husband and I had purchased the same boxes of chocolates for all of our kids for Valentine’s Day. My husband had suggested we get one for ourselves, but we hadn’t ended up doing that. I noticed that the boxes at this shop were $3 less in price than those we had bought earlier. I decided to buy one and surprise my husband with it when I got home.

GOD’S SPIRIT SPOKE TO ME

As I walked out the shop’s door, I heard God speak to my heart very loudly. He said, “Go back and give that box of chocolates to the lady in the donut shop; I want to give that to her.” I felt that God really wanted to lift her spirits with this gift. I didn’t really want to do what He asked of me, though. I started to reason with God, saying that I wanted to give this box of chocolates to my husband. But God kept really pressing me on this, making me aware that this was important, and He really wanted me to do this. I started thinking about how bad and disappointed I would feel if I missed this opportunity to serve what God was clearly putting before me. I realized that I would not enjoy eating these chocolates at home while the whole time thinking that I was supposed to give them to this lady.

I exited the shop and sat in my truck, thinking about how I would accomplish this mission God had given me without embarrassing the lady or myself. I felt I needed a good strategy to make this work well. Just then, the headlights of a car going through the “drive-through” window almost blinded me. I hadn’t noticed that there was a “drive-through” option before. I saw the lady God wanted to shower with a gift serving the “drive-through” window. Now that was totally God because this was a very lonely gas station late at night. The odds of that one car driving through and its headlights catching my eye at that precise moment because I happened to be parked in that exact spot, well, that is just outrageous odds! I understood what God was telling me. He showed me that I could go through the “drive-through” and give her the box of chocolates. This would make it a very private exchange between her and me. I dug around for change to buy a coffee at the window as I never carried cash. It turned out I happened to have just enough change in the truck for a small coffee, of course, so I set my plan in motion.

I ordered my coffee at the speaker, and when I got to the window, I smiled and said, “Hey me again.” She smiled and kind of laughed. I said, “This is going to sound really weird probably, but I’m a Christian, and I just bought this box of chocolates. As I was going out the door, I felt God tell me that He wanted me to give these to you for Valentine’s Day. He wants you to know that He loves you.” She said, “I think I’m going to cry.” Then, I gave her the box of chocolates, wished her a Happy Valentine’s Day, and drove away.

SERVING ALWAYS ENRICHES OUR LIVES

As I was driving home, I had the most exhilarating feeling! A feeling that God had used me to do something for Him. He had allowed me to participate in His plans. I realized that God didn’t need me to do His bidding and didn’t have to use me for this, but He gave me the opportunity to do it to enrich my life.  God gives me these opportunities now and then, and I always have an indescribable feeling of exhilaration when He does. The idea that the Spirit of God can actually speak to us as individuals, that the God of the Universe speaks to me, is just too amazing for words. Thank you, God, for these occasions when You remind me that You are there, very present in my life, every day.

Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life: “7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.” (John 3:6-8 NLT).