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Ten of us, all strangers, were sitting around a campfire in Adirondack chairs. I was engaged in a deep, emotional, and spiritually moving conversation with the couple on my right. During the conversation the woman said to me, “God wanted me to meet you. I needed to hear what you had to say.” Was she right? Does God work through us to touch the lives of others? Let’s find out. Please read more.
Was this a chance encounter or was it divine providence? Perhaps we will never know. It is highly likely I will never meet this woman again. But one thing is for certain, her life was changed during the encounter.
This event recently took place while my wife and I were camping in our RV for a month in Florida. During the first week of our trip, I was sitting around the community campfire one night. I struck up a conversation with the man on my right. I mentioned I was in town to put on a Christian retreat. “What is the retreat about,” he asked? His question set in motion a long conversation. He shared his life’s journey, and I shared mine. After hearing my story, he turned to his wife and said, “We need to switch seats, you need to hear this man’s story.”
After they switched seats, his wife and I entered into a deep conversation. Upon hearing my story, this total stranger poured out the tragic story about the trauma of her childhood sexual abuse at the hands of a so-called trusted family member. Tears were flowing. I listened, I was present to her, I cared, I spoke of God’s love for her, and I prayed with her. At the end of this emotional encounter she said, “God wanted me to meet you. I needed to hear what you had to say.” Then she said, “You gave me the answer I have been searching for ever since this terrible event happened to me.”
So, now I ask you, was this a chance encounter? Was it a coincidence? Or was it God’s plan? What if I had not gone to the campfire that evening? What if I had not told her husband that I was in town to put on a Christian retreat? What if I had not shared my faith in Jesus? What if I had not mentioned the story of my own experience with childhood sexual abuse?
I know this, if none of these things happened, I would have missed the opportunity to help her, and she still would not have the answer she was desperately seeking. She finished the evening’s conversation telling me she believed our conversation was a miracle. Who knows, maybe it was. I can’t say. We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).
Through divine providence, God guides all creation. God is the sovereign master of His plan. However, in carrying out His plan He often makes use of our cooperation. He grants us the opportunity to participate with His plan, but He also gives us freedom to say no.
John 4:7 states, “A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” Prior to this the disciples had gone into town for food leaving Jesus alone at the well where He met the woman. Was His encounter with the Samaritan woman merely her lucky day? Or was it meant to happen to teach us a lesson? Clearly the Samaritan woman received a miracle.
In Mark 2:3-4 we read the story of the men lowering their paralytic friend down to Jesus. We know the paralytic received a miracle. What if his friends hadn’t brought him that day? They would not have witnessed the miracle, and the paralytic man would still be lying on a mat.
In the story of the loaves and fishes in John 6:1-15 we read, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” Perhaps thousands of people would have gone home hungry and missed out on a miracle that day if the young boy had not offered up his loaves and fishes to Jesus. Jesus didn’t need the boy’s food to feed the people on the hill, but God often chooses to work miracles in one person’s life when someone else responds to His call.
How about you, have you had an experience where God has worked a wonderous deed in someone’s life through you? Have you been the recipient of God working through someone else to do something miraculous in your life? If so, please consider sharing your story in the comment section below.
Might God be preparing to do something powerful for someone today, but He wants to do it through you? When we get these promptings from the Holy Spirit to act, and we fail to do so, someone might forever lose out on a healing moment. Is it possible that we might be the only one God has chosen to work through to touch the life of someone else? Is it possible God wants to touch and heal us if we allow Him to work through someone else?
I did not go to the campfire that night expecting to witness God’s powerful healing touch, but yet I did. I was astonished by how God touched her so deeply through my words. How is He prepared to work through you this day? We can’t miss these opportunities to be God’s hands and feet on earth. Who does God want you to meet today?
Heavenly Father, it is amazing how you work through us as broken vessels to perform incredible things in the life of others. Please guide me to those who need a caring touch, or maybe just a good listener. Help me to be the hands and feet of Jesus. And Lord, if I am the one needing a healing touch, help me to be open to those who want to share your Son’s love with me. Amen!
AMDG
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