Two weeks ago, I was in church and the pastor asked anyone who felt like God was far from them and needed prayer for something....anything...that they were dealing with to raise their hands for prayer. I looked around and there was a husband and wife with their hands raised. This was the same couple who had prayed over me a week or two before when I was really feeling discouraged. I left my row and went back to them....for some reason, I was drawn only to the woman so I put my hand on her and prayed for her along with a few others who had come to pray for her as well. When we were done praying, I went back to my seat and continued worshipping and as I did, God spoke to me....just a knowing deep in my heart....and I knew it wasn't me. It's been so long since He has told me anything....I wasn't really prepared for it. He said that the woman I prayed for had a physical problem and that it was a very small problem. I thought....well why would they BOTH raise their hands for prayer if it was a very small problem??? Then He spoke to my heart that the physical problem wasn't a small one.....but it was a small one FOR HIM. I thought, wow. God wants her to know that He can do anything....no problem is too big for Him....they're all small problems! After service, I turned around with every intention of telling the woman what God had laid on my heart for her, but she and her husband were gone. Last week they weren't there either....
I've recently connected with a friend on Facebook who has shared with me some struggles that she is going through....and recently she has shared how God has been speaking to her about letting her "light shine through that of a child". She wasn't quite sure what that meant....until God kept putting things into her path to show her what that meant. One of those things was a little girl that she found out today had been harmed by an adult who should've kept her safe. She was there to encourage this little girl and lift her up in prayer. This may have healed a broken relationship between my friend and the little girls' mother....they have not spoken for some time until today. My friend also recently felt like she needed to encourage someone who she hadn't spoken to for a long time....so she sent her a text message.....it wasn't her old friend's number anymore. The woman whose number it was called my friend and asked who she was and why she had sent that message....my friend explained....and the woman on the other end of the phone cried and thanked her for the encouragement....said she really needed to hear those words....God had heard her....and knew her sorrow....and had sent a stranger to send a text message of encouragement. God doesn't waste anything....not what we think are our mistakes....not our pain....not anything. He uses it all....
Today I went back to church....and was a little late....so I sat in the back on the end of a row...not my usual seat. As I was singing and worshiping, I realized who was sitting directly in front of me. It was the husband of the wife I had prayed for....alone. During worship, I felt a hand on my left lower back....no one was there....maybe God showing me where this woman was physically ill??? The whole service, I was thinking of how I was going to tell him what I felt God had told me about his wife. I am always a little hesitant to tell someone what I believe God told me for fear that they will think I'm crazy or hearing things....or that what I feel God has said doesn't match up with what they are going through....so it took some courage for me to talk to him. But after the service, I asked him how his wife was. He told me she had been having severe back pain and hadn't made it to church today and was even having problems last week. I told him what God had spoken to me about his wife....all the while crying because when he said it was back pain, it just confirmed what God had wanted me to tell her. Physical pain....small for Him. I told her husband to go home and tell his wife that nothing is too great for God.....that He sees her pain....and wants to heal her....and that she needs to be encouraged because NOTHING is too great for Him! He had to ask me to repeat myself a couple times....because I was crying.....
Because I just felt in awe of a God who is SO BIG....and i am so small....and broken....and weak....and unworthy....but He used me. And He's using my friend. And He wants to use ANYONE who is willing to LET HIM....open yourself up to the possibility of being used. Be encouraging to someone....be sensitive to your intuition...what your gut tells you...a lot of times if you act on that, you are acting on the Spirit's leading. You feel a strong sense of urgency that you can't explain? You feel like you're just supposed to tell someone something and you can't explain it? God gives us gifts....of wisdom...of discernment...of faith...of knowledge....use them. The more you use them, the more you sharpen them....the better you get at it....the more often you build others up. And that's what it's all about! Encourage someone today! :) God bless you!
No comments:
Post a Comment