Yesterday I asked God where I should eat breakfast. I do that sometimes. I want coffee but don’t know which place to go to, so I just ask God. It’s a simple way of inviting the Lord into my daily decisions and a cool way of just seeing the Lord move. Some days nothing happens. I’ll go and get coffee, or breakfast, or wander around the mall and that’s it. No earth shattering moments or cool ministry opportunities. It just is what it is. Still I do it because, sometimes, the Lord shows up and shows off in these small moments of obedience. Yesterday was one of those days. One of those, “Wow, God truly wanted me to be right here right now for this specific reason,” moments. So I decided to share it with you guys! Here it is…
Yesterday I woke up, showered, and got ready for the day. I headed out the door going nowhere in particular. I ran through the nearby convenient store drive thru, grabbing my usual energy drink. As I stop in a parking space to quickly drink it down, I begin to think about what I wanted to do with my day off. I decided that I wanted to get breakfast but didn’t know where to go. To be honest I’ve been missing Louise’s kitchen from Black Mountain, North Carolina (shout out to my United friends!) and I haven’t yet found something here is Amarillo that is as good. Anyway… because I was stuck in indecisiveness, I decided to just pray and ask the Lord where I should go.
After praying, the first place that came to mind is where I went. It just so happened to be a place that is super restful to me. I’ve been super busy lately and thought, “Maybe the Lord just wants me to rest today. That’s not such a bad thing.” So I drove to one of my favorite places, and went inside.
As I was walking in, a man was coming in behind me with an oxygen tank. I saw only one table open in the non smoking section, so I waited for Him to choose his table before I sat anywhere. I had my eye on a corner table though. He walks in and quickly heads for the table in the corner, leaving open the non-smoking table. So, I sit.
I order my food and begin working on emails as I wait. My food arrives and I eat it. Then I decide to write a post on Instagram before I leaving the restaurant. As I start typing up my post, the waitress comes over. “Where do you go to church?” she asks. I must have had a funny look on my face because she goes on to explain that my shirt said youth camp on it. I smile and tell her, “I go to Family Life.” She asks me a few more questions about where the church is located and then she trails off continuing her work.
I pick up my phone and begin typing again, and shortly she’s back. I set my phone down and begin to listen to her. She tells me of how her sister had passed away 2 years ago and she has been angry with God because of it. She said she’s felt like God is calling to her though. That she is supposed to start going back to church. We talk a little bit more. I encourage her to go and try it out , but soon she has to walk away again to continue working.
I pick up my phone again, determined to finish this post. Next thing I know, she’s standing beside my table again. I set my phone down, turn towards her, and listen. She opens up again about her life. Her work, family, relationship, etc… She again speaks of how she feels the Lord calling her back to Him. I listen. I encourage her not to give up. To fight to follow what she feel the Lord calling her to. To find a way to make it work. I pray she does!
Anyway, that is what happened. I prayed and asked God where to go eat breakfast. I invited the Lord into my small decision and look what happened. He sent me to encourage someone who needed it. To listen and love someone who needed to be seen and heard. Had I not asked, who knows where I would have gone. Had I not been aware of others, I may have sat in that corner table and not had her as my waitress. Had I not stayed to write that post (which I did eventually finish) I would have missed this opportunity. Had I been too busy to set my phone down and talk with her, I would have missed the chance to love her like Jesus and encourage her to follow his voice.
This is what life with Jesus can be like. If you simply invite Him into your daily decisions, no matter how small they may seem, you get the opportunity to see what God will do with your faithfulness. A friend of mine calls moments like these “divine appointments” and I think it’s a good way of explaining them. I look for these divine appointments in my daily life. I encourage you to try it for yourself and see what the Lord does! Who knows what will happen!
Obviously there are ministry opportunities right outside our front door, and I love that the Lord is using me right where I am. I learned over the last 2 years how to live out my faith no matter where I am. Right now I am in Amarillo, so my ministry is the people God puts before me here, but I know that Amarillo is only temporary for me. I am fundraising for a vision trip to Guatemala to see if long-term missions with the Adventures in Missions base is what the Lord wants for me next. I am $600 away from meeting my fundraising goal and being able to purchase my plane ticket to go! How exciting is that?!?!?! Would you prayerfully consider donating to help me reach this goal by Saturday?
Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope it encourages you to invite the Lord into your daily decisions. You never know what God has in store for you!
