On Sunday, my brother-in-law, Charlie, shared a story about something that happened to him at work. He maintains and installs large-scale battery back-up generators and last week he was working on one in a medical lab. He spent most of the week by himself surrounded by machines in an automated lab. By the end of the week he was lonely and getting bitter about it. He'd finally had enough and cried out to God about how he didn't want to be alone anymore and didn't want to do this job anymore. No sooner had he said that then a woman he hadn't seen before (not someone who normally came in to check on the lab) entered the lab to do something at the computer. The next thing Charlie knew, she had her hand on his shoulder and said to him, "I was walking by the door and God told me to come in here and tell whoever was in here that He loves him", and then walked back out the door. Needless to say, Charlie was overwhelmed.
When he told the story, I was overwhelmed. It struck me on so many levels: First, that the woman was paying enough attention to hear God in that moment, that she obeyed and walked into the room and, after seeing Charlie, (who, if you haven't met him, is a rather big guy and bald to boot can be rather intimidating) continued to obey and give him the message. And second, that God was there listening to Charlie and answered his cry. God cared enough about Charlie to, in that moment, reassure him that he wasn't alone-- the Creator of the Universe was there in that room with him wanting to share his life and not only in the room but living in his heart. That is how deeply God loves each of us. That is the kind of relationship that He wants to have with each of us. It is not a common occurrence that God speaks and acts on such a real and personal and immediate level--something sort of similar has only happened to me personally once--but when it does happen it is a reminder to all of us and that is why I wanted to write about it.
I hope that I can walk close enough to the Lord that, when He needs me to speak into someone's life like that woman did, I will hear Him and respond.
jak-in-the-house
5 comments:
Great story! Thanks for sharing it. It's so easy to forget or be unaware that God is here with us all the time. When something like this happens, it's a great reminder that He really is here, and living among us and in us, listening to us, and doing His will through us, even though we may not always be aware of His presence.
sitting in a lab all day with little interaction with other people, i can sympathize with charlie. thanks so much for that reminder that God is always with me...i needed that!
Wow
We serve a LIVING God who hears what we say even when we think we are alone. What an amazing story. What an encouragment for Charlie and all who hear of this experience!
Wow, that's so cool. It's amazing how God shows up. I had a great story that happened on sunday...something a little similar where God just showed up and answered a prayer right away. He's so awesome like that. I'm so glad we have a God who lets us know how much He loves us.
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