I drove up to Nett Lake on Wednesday. There's nothing like a nice 6-hour drive to try figuring out what God will be doing when I get there. I thought I knew what was going to happen. Wrong. This is how I thought the day would go.
I would arrive at my friend's house, install a bunkbed I had built for her kids, and then we would talk about life and about God. It was going to be an absolutely wonderful day. But then I arrived and all of MY plans went right out the window. Enter GOD's plan.
I thought for sure God had placed me in my friends life so I could tell her about God and the joys and responsibilities of being a Christian. It was going to be perfect, or so I thought. That's not what God had in mind. Why? Because that was MY plan, not His.
When I got to my friend's house her boyfriend was the first person I saw. Then I saw my friend walking towards me from down the street. There were also two teenage girls in the house - cousins, I was told. Plus my friend's two kids. One was having way too much fun showing off. The other was having just as much fun, being cranky.
All of these people were getting ready to leave for an appointment as soon as I finished assembling the bed. Well, there was not going to be any conversation about God I guess. No moments of deep reflection or prayer. I was going to assemble the bed and that would be it. Then another 6 hours of driving back home to think about what had NOT happened. Wonderful.
I clearly thought God had me drive up here for a reason. But now nothing was happening. Did I miss something? Did I not pick up on some sign from above?
As I was tightening the last bolt on the bed my friend asked me, "Could you drop my cousin off in Virginia on your way home?"
"Sure."
Virginia, MN was 20 miles down the road but it WAS on my way back home. I was doing a favor for a friend plus I have no idea what's going to happen next so, okay, let's go.
I was feeling a bit awkward, being in the car with a teenager I barely knew so I introduced myself. "Hi. I'm Bob. What's your name?"
[Here it comes - the revelation of God's plan for my day, my trip, and perhaps my life.]
"Joelle."
One word. A name. And just like that, God's blessings poured down on me. Big time! So, who is Joelle?
On May 8th I wrote a story called "Why?" (Click on the link and read it).
In the story I wrote about the struggles we face in life. Joelle was definitely struggling, having just lost her sister at such a young age. In the last paragraph of my story I asked you to pray that God would put a Christ-follower into Joelle's life. To show her someone cared and to share the love of Jesus with her. God answered those prayers. I just never thought it was going to be me.
So Joelle and I talked for 20+ minutes about her sister Chere, the pain of someone we love dying, Nett Lake Baptist church, Pastor Kevin, The Warrior Leadership Summit. I even got her laughing a bit.
If you ever think you have read the Bible enough or prayed enough or learned enough about God, get ready. You're about to learn some more.
All the way home I was praising God for the gift He had just given me. What an encouragement! I hope our conversation helped Joelle. I KNOW it helped me.
So, what's next? I'm not even going to try to guess. But these verses come to mind.
"9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
10 Now the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”
And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.” - 1 Samuel 3:9-10
God Speaking - Mandissa
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