The man sat cross-legged on the sidewalk next to the gas station, a small backpack by his side. He evidently hadn’t had access to a shower in a while.
A woman with three boys walked past him.
“If you’re looking for the restrooms,” said the man, pointing, “they’re over there.”
The woman thanked him and hurried off, nervous about interacting with a homeless stranger. As she and her kids walked back toward their car, she heard a familiar, still, small voice.
“I want you to go talk to that man.”
For a moment, she balked, but quickly realized arguing with God is never a great idea. So she asked, “Lord, will you at least tell me what I am talking to him about?”
“Tell him I know he is a seeker, but I am seeking him.”
The woman instructed her kids to stay in the car, took a deep breath, and went back to the man.
“Excuse me, sir,” she said. “I believe God wants me to tell you something.”
The man looked at her attentively. She continued, “God knows you are looking really hard for something, but He is looking even harder for you.”
The man burst into tears. He pulled out a small, wrapped package and a single rose from his backpack.
“I’m looking for my daughter,” he said. “She turns seven today. I’ve been in jail and my brother stole away my wife and kids. I’m trying to get to my mom’s so she can help me find them.”
The woman learned more of the man’s story—he had attended church for a while, but was lured back into addiction. Spiritually speaking, he was a lost sheep.
She began to pray for him. Her husband rounded the corner and joined them. They gave the man a brand-new Bible.
This man had sat at that gas station for two days without anyone speaking to him. Suddenly, instead of feeling rejection, he felt the deep love of God.
The woman in the story is me.
In John 3:8, speaking to the religious leader Nicodemus, Jesus said:
“The wind blows where it pleases, and you hear its sound, but you don’t know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
The Holy Spirit “blew” me to that particular gas station that day. He “blows” followers of Jesus to lots of places.
Ephesians 2:10 says,
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.”
God strategically orchestrates divine acts of kindness—through us! He places us into situations and conversations in the middle of ordinary life.
All we have to do is follow his lead.
Maybe it’s that you overhear a man at the bank say he is depressed about his finances, and the Holy Spirit prompts you to give him the $50 in your pocket and tell him it’s from God.
Maybe you see a lady sitting in the park studying and you feel nudged to find out her story and then point her to a specific Bible verse which turns her tears to joy.
(True stories that happened to my husband and me.)
You know the bumper sticker that says “practice random acts of kindness?” Nothing wrong with that—but followers of Jesus do something far more powerful.
We act as agents of God’s love by following the Holy Spirit’s prompts.
When we do, two things happen: we do what we were created to do, and others learn how much God cares about them.
So pay attention. You never know where the Spirit will “blow” you next.
Image by reneebigelow from Pixabay
