I have been helping out at a halfway house, trying to help one guy find some purpose and activity in his life. Recently I have wondered whether my time was worthwhile as he will soon be leaving the house and I'll soon be in Kenya. Today, my friend wasn't in and I felt like I just walked 30 minutes for no reason. But then as I walked back to the apartment, I saw a man I had talked to once or twice on the streets before. I nodded a smile towards him and kept walking. I stopped quickly when he suddenly asked, "how were your holidays?" I never expected this man to remember me, much less care about my holidays. But, God was at work 2 months ago when I randomly sat with him and shared a clementine. He had been through some tough times but was seeing God work through his forgiveness of a relative and continued provision. Even when our obedience feels worthless, God often is doing something bigger than we could have hoped for or imagined.
Lastly, on Friday a Bible study I am part of was having a prayer time for Steph and me. I had invited a friend from work to come and hang out beforehand, and he had asked to come along to the Bible study. At the prayer time, this friend spoke about how He had seen God work through me and how much he respected me as a colleague and man. Sometimes, its hard to tell whether our actions have any impact on those around us. Do people notice that we don't bad-mouth people behind their back? Do people notice that we try to serve others at work, doing small thing to show we respect them? As our pastor recently preached, does our life have the fragrance of the Kingdom of Heaven? Hearing how this friend had noticed all these things and how he saw God in these things was pretty much awesome (even if his car was towed from our lot that night!)
God is alive and active. Start looking, He may be even closer than you think.
41 days
1 comment:
hey matt, good to read this post for me, I enjoyed it. keep that pre-field optimism alive.
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