That's Why!

Have you ever felt used by someone? In most cases, "being used" is a negative thing. But yesterday, for me anyway, being used was a wonderful thing.

I have a friend who was recently laid off from the place I use to work. It's a sad thing when that happens anywhere - especially at this time of year. I was reminded of my friend's lack of employment as I addressed their Christmas card and thought, "There must be something more I could do."

At the same time I was doing my Christmas cards, my wife was plating up some of her Christmas cookies to give to some friends of ours. I asked if she could make a small bag of them for my jobless friend. My wife thought that was a great idea and so she did just that. I delivered them yesterday.

When I got to my friend's house I rang the doorbell and my friend's husband answered the door. My friend was not at home. Her husband and I sat in their living room and talked for an hour. Then my friend came home and the three of us talked for another hour.

During the conversation I said a quick, "What do you want me to do here?" prayer because I really had no clue. Maybe the cookies and conversation were enough?

When the time came to leave, my friend accompanied me to the front door. Her husband stayed in the dining room organizing some papers I took him away from when I arrived. My friend and I continued to talk - me encouraging my friend my friend to look at her job loss as a new beginning rather than an end. And then there was a moment of silence as I reached for the door knob . . .

You know, we never give God enough credit for the relationships he creates, the lives He's saved or those special moments He arranges with a simple holy thought. I was in one of those moments yesterday in the foyer of my friend's house.

I turned around from opening the door and asked my friend, "Can I pray for you?"

And so I prayed about having hope for a future. I suggested in my prayer that perhaps she was given this time off to be with her 95-year old mother before the Lord took her home. I prayed that God would watch over her and give her peace in the whole situation.

When I finished and said "Amen" my friend looked at me and said, "No one has ever prayed for me before." That's when I began to understand what had just happened. You see, my friend is not a believer. She is in her 60's and NO ONE has ever prayed with her?

I walked out the front door and closed it behind me. On the way to my car I smiled and said to God, "THAT's why you brought me here!"

I am constantly amazed by God. We walk through each day not knowing what He has in store for us, yet it seems like there is always something He wants us to do. Usually I miss all of God's hints or nudges to do one thing or another, but I think yesterday I was used to deliver a message to a friend. A message of hope, in .Jesus.

Pray for opportunities like the one I was given yesterday. You may be the very person God wants to use in someone's life today!

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." - Romans 15:13