The 12 Minute Commute

My 12 minute commute to my sister and brother-in-law's house was very interesting tonight. During this short time, I encountered a woman walking rapidly down the street clutching something to her chest and crying.  Over two blocks down, going the other direction, I encountered a very angry man walking briskly with anger and hatred and the devil in his eyes.  A block later I was at a 4-way stop with a woman to the right cussing because the man to her right took off first and it was her turn.  And she was drunk.  She drove slowly across the street and almost hit the curb.

At each encounter I prayed.  I asked God if I should stop to console the crying woman, but felt I was just supposed to pray.  When I encountered the angry man, who was probably the cause of that woman crying, I felt I was to pray.  When I then encountered the drunk woman, I prayed again.
Three opportunities for prayer for wounded souls in my 12 minute commute.  It's all around us.  The wounded hearts are everywhere.  We encounter them all the time, but maybe we don't even notice.

By the time I got to my destination, my heart was overwhelmed with compassion for these people. Maybe there is no one else in their lives praying for them. Maybe I am the one to see them, because God was entrusting me to pray for them.  Maybe I was the one to see them because I needed more compassion awakened in my soul.  Maybe I was to see them so I would not get lazy and complacent in my prayer life. We need to be ready for the encounter to be something that alerts us to our shortcomings.  Only God can change us.  Only God can change our circumstances.  Only God can heal our hearts.  Only God can set us free.  Prayer is where we always start no matter what the encounter may be.

I believe there are no accidental meetings in this life.  God orchestrates all our encounters for our good and His glory. We need to pay attention to them all.  God has a purpose for our encounters no matter how insignificant they appear at the time.  He wants to use us, change us, and bless us.  God wants to take every opportunity to change us into the image of His Son and help us grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ to build His Kingdom. He wants to bless others through us.  We are His instruments of choice to bring love, healing and deliverance to a hurting world.

Serving God is an adventure.  He will open doors of ministry at every turn, but we have to be paying attention. We have to be willing to be used.  You don't need a Reverend or Deacon or PhD in front of your name to take these opportunities.  God uses us all.  We are His Body and all have our part in the Body to function as He sees fit. There is never a dull moment when we open our hearts to God's love and our ears to the Holy Spirit's direction.