God is really working on me right now. I can't begin to tell you how many times God has "opened the door" for me to love on someone and to just be a vessel that God could use to be a part of their life. After the most recent situation, I am reminded of two other times. These two times were different than the recent one. I believe it was God who got me thinking about these two people who, at some point in my life, I had interaction with and I grew to care about them, whether they knew it or not.
One of them was a boy I had gone to high school with. The other was a friend of the family. I hadn't seen either in years, but at different times, I began thinking about them. I "Facebook stalked" them trying to find out what they were doing now, but I never communicated with them. At this point you're probably thinking to yourself, well this is a normal every day occurrence for me. But here's where it becomes different. With both of these guys, I found them on Facebook and not long after (weeks or months), I heard about their passing. They were gone. Just like that. Now, I'm not saying that me adding them on Facebook would have stopped this from happening, but it makes me wonder, how would God have used me if I had just spared a few seconds to send a message? Is our time so precious to us that we're missing the bigger picture? Is our time so valuable that we can't even smile at someone we are walking by?
The most recent incident may not seem as serious as the two above, but it was an opportunity that God had provided and I walked away--TWICE. We were prayer walking one week. We stopped at the house across from the college, knocked on the door, and a girl named Makalya answered. We asked her if she had any prayer requests. She thought about it for a minute and replied, "I've never done this before." DING DING DING DING!!! HELLO KATIE! If that's not an open invitation I'm not sure what is. We asked if we could pray with her and we did...and we left.
A couple of weeks later we go prayer walking again. Rose wanted to start with the house across from the school. A lady was sitting outside and a man drove up; there were also two little boys with them. We asked if they had any prayer requests and the lady said her family. She started crying, but the four of them joined hands with us as we prayed for them. Then we left. Last week I was driving past their house and their was a For Sale sign, but no sign of the family. I have no idea where they are now.
My challenge for you:
Spare a moment out of your day to love on someone. You don't know what their going through and you honestly don't have to know. If God places someone on your heart, send them a message to see how they're doing. Be obedient. If you're a Christian reading this, it's not about you. Let them see Christ in you.
{Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. -Galatians 6:9-10}
