I love the quirky ways God reaches out to us! I'm sure He has a sense of humour!
As my husband left for work in the early hours of the morning, I was suddenly awake and unable to get back to sleep. My mind started churning over an issue that has been troubling my husband and me for about a week. I have prayed over it and handed it over to God daily since the problem started. Yesterday, I felt at peace with the situation. Although the problem still exists, I was able to rejoice in the Lord, for He is good.
But the deceiver doesn’t want me to feel peace, to trust in God’s goodness and His providence. So, I woke with the situation playing and replaying in my mind. Unproductive, new thoughts clambered into my head, taking up way too much space. I thought, Lord, I gave this over to You yesterday. Why has it come back to hit me with such force today?
The answer came immediately. Focus on the Lord. I reached for my phone with the intention of delving into His Word. What I saw before I had a chance to do anything was an email from someone I didn’t recognise or remember subscribing to. Mary DeMuth was sharing a free ebook entitled, ‘What to do After People Poop on You’. Well, that caught my attention! I read her email message and downloaded the book (thank you, Mary!) Mary advocates that “God often uses things that wound us to heal us.” Her book guides towards the healing process. We need to look to Jesus first, to help us through our pain. I wholeheartedly agree with Mary on this.
It is human nature to cling to hurts, and if we allow ourselves to revisit them, they will fester and grow. That is what the deceiver wants!
But we have our awesome triune God to help us: God the Father, who gave us Jesus to die in our place, to take away our sin and strife, and Holy Spirit, who lives in us as our advocate, comforter, counsellor and helper. We don’t have to do this alone! In fact, we shouldn’t even attempt to do it alone, as we so often do.
Most mornings when my husband isn’t working, we go to a local coffee shop for our morning coffee. When he’s at work, I usually make my own coffee at home. I’ve never liked going to cafes or restaurants alone, so I don’t do it. But this morning, I felt prompted to go to the coffee shop to have my coffee. I tried to justify why I should stay home and make my own coffee, but I kept feeling prompted to go. I thought, Okay, maybe there’s someone there I need to talk to or help. So I went.
I ordered my coffee and decided to sit outside. If I was meant to talk to someone, that was the place to be. I chose a table under a beautiful magnolia tree. As I sat waiting for my coffee, the table and I were being showered with spent magnolia flower stamens. I almost moved, but there was a soft breeze, and it was pleasant sitting in the shade of the tree. I read one of my daily devotionals and just enjoyed being there.
When my coffee arrived, my first thought was, I hope none of these stamens fall into my coffee! I suddenly had a picture in my mind. It wasn’t a stamen falling into my full or partially full coffee, but one falling into my empty cup.
I took the first sip and savoured the intense flavour. Maybe having a coffee by yourself isn’t so bad! As I drank my coffee, stamens were falling by the dozens now, all around me. Taking the last sip, I set my empty cup down on the saucer and almost immediately, a stamen fell into my cup.
It was such a tiny moment, but it spoke volumes. I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face. Holy Spirit prompted me to go out for my coffee because God had a message for me. He did it for me. He showed me that nothing was going to fall into my coffee. Does God care about something falling into my coffee? Apparently so!
But the real message wasn’t anything about keeping my coffee unblemished. It was about God showing me He cares for me. He knows what I’m going through, good, bad and otherwise, and He is right here with me, caring for me in the minute details of my life, as well as the monumental moments, and everything in between, too. He wants me to trust Him. He’s got this! Thank You, Lord!
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT): "Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take."
Jeremiah 29:11 (NLT): “'For I know the plans I have for you,' says the LORD. 'They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.'”
Psalm 9:10 (NLT): "Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O LORD, do not abandon those who search for you."
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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