How God Has Been Working Lately

Last Saturday, I was driving into town early in the morning, to get to a local craft bazaar where our daughter, Samantha, talked me into setting up a “Walk Through Fire” booth. On my way, I used the time to pray out loud to God about the things that were heavy on my heart. I prayed for our children, for some dear friends whose daughter had just been murdered, for health issues, and for several families that we know are struggling right now. I also payed that God would show us opportunities to use our story to encourage and inspire other people – that He would help us connect with people and that He would give us the words to share and the confidence to step out of our comfort zone and actually share our story and all that God’s done for us. Now that we’ve written and published our book, we want to know what God wants us to do with it, so I was asking Him to show us His plans.About an hour later, there was a woman who was standing in front of my booth, looking at our
merchandise. She asked me what our book was about. I began to tell her about how David had been in an explosion and was severely burned. It was then that I notice this woman had tears streaming down her cheeks. She shared with me that last August, her son had been in an explosion at work and he had died from his injuries twenty-four house afterwards. We wept together as we shared our stories with one another.   I gave her a copy of our book.

God gave me an opportunity that day.

Recently, David and I were invited to do a radio interview to promote our book. During the interview, I looked at the radio host and noticed she was wiping away tears as she listened to our story. I pray that we were able to offer her some hope by sharing our lives openly with her.God gave us an opportunity that day.

Just yesterday, while in Minnesota for a book signing event, we wandered into a cute little boutique in the downtown area. Samantha and I were having fun, looking at clothing and I noticed that the store clerk had burn scars on her arm. I strapped on some courage and asked her if she was a burn survivor. She said she was. Our conversation was a little strained at first, but within a few minutes, we were both sharing our stories and by the time we left the store, we were on a first name basis with Katie, we gave her a copy of “Walk Through Fire” and invited her to join us on Saturday at the book signing event. She said she’d swing by with her son.God provided us with another opportunity that day.

These instances have just got me thinking about how God shows up in the little detail of my life. He orchestrates moments like these, just for me and for you to have chances to grow in our faith and our boldness. I’m absolutely humbled and amazed at how our story might be able to be used to comfort other people. It gets me thinking about how I probably miss out on some of these opportunities at times because I make myself too busy or I let my doubts and fears take precedence over the Holy Spirit’s gentle nudging sometimes. My prayer is that I will continue to see the special opportunities that God’s placing before me every day to connect with someone else on a deeper, more meaningful level. I pray that I will act when I feel those nudges, even if it’s out of my comfort zone.

How has God been showing you opportunities?

Will you be willing to respond when He places those opportunities in front of you?