Let me begin by apologizing for not posting since June! Since I began doing my masters courses many things have taken a backseat temporarily. However, I plan to be more intentional on keeping up with posts at least once a week, even if it be just a goofy video or thought.
So, last week my senior pastor called the church staff into his office for our weekly staff meeting. After going through calendar items and Sunday service details, he looked at us and said, "We're going to do something different today." When you hear those words, you know you're going to walk away with at least an interesting story at the end of the day.
He said that we should assume that every human being is a treasure and has value in the eyes of God. God also calls us to pray for and potentially bless those people if it's within our means. He then told us to find a spot in the church where we could clear our minds. During this time we were to push away all the stuff in our heads that distracts us and ask one simple question of God. Ask God to reveal clues to the treasure He wants us to find today. So that's exactly what we did. I got down on my hands and knees in our youth room, closed my eyes and did my best to focus solely on Jesus. During my prayer time I saw a "red head". I had absolutely no idea why. I didn't know if it was someone with red hair, or a red hat...to be honest I thought the whole experience to be a little strange. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a bit skeptical.
After our prayer time we each compared our clues, whether they be a building, a person, a street sign, etc....then we went out together to see if we could find them. First we stopped at the local library since that was a "clue" that was revealed. I looked for a red head...no dice. Next we went up to the local school as that was another "clue". Still no red head. We came back to the office, and I was a bit discouraged. Why did God put this picture in my head?
That night I met up with my step-dad for dinner. We sat down, and our order was taken promptly. The waitress who came by to fill up our coffee just happened to have short red hair and a red truckers hat on. At that moment I felt God's spirit prompting me to ask her if I could just pray for her. So when she came by to fill up our cups again, I introduced myself, explained the exercise I had done that afternoon and asked if I could take just a moment to pray for her. She allowed me to pray for the health and safety of both her and her family.
I say all this because this type of thing is not something I do. To be honest, I have never asked a total stranger if I could pray for them. It was a first for me. And based on her initial reaction, I don't think she had ever had a total stranger actually pray for her either. And for all I know, this woman may think I'm a total religious nut...but to be honest, my reputation isn't really what matters. Making God famous is what matters.
Every human being is a treasure to God. In the stillness and quite of uninterrupted time with God, could He be giving you clues to a person you should pray for or bless?
