simple provision

God is at work, constantly.

I love to see traces of His grace, evidence of His presence in our lives. Little things that halt us in our tracks and pull our gaze outward and upward.

Why are we surprised when we see God at work? At least, I often am. I think it's my unbelief. I should be expectant, lingering on the edge of each day's seat to see what my Lord will do next.

Expectant, so that I will notice His hand in the events I see around me, and in the workings of my heart, (the good) rather than blindly letting them pass by insignificantly, as if chance is their author.

This weekend, I saw the Lord demonstrate His compassion in such a simple way. You probably will not be astounded with this story, but it might cause you, like it did me, to look in appreciation to our Lord, to praise Him for caring enough to show His love in the most practical, ordinary ways...

On Friday nights, I go with my brother and sister to join a group in the downtown area of a city for street ministry. We hand out gospel tracts, initiate conversations, and seek to communicate God's love through the Gospel to seeking hearts. As usual, we met at a mission house for a short Bible study and prayer before heading out to the streets. Well, this last Friday we had the blessing of having a youth group from Florida join us for ministry. On the way outside I noticed that one of the group leaders was off in the corner, coughing pretty hard. I asked if she was okay, and she explained, through coughing, but with an apologetic smile, that she was struggling with a bad cold and her throat was extremely sore.

Well. What did I have with me in my purse? Let me back up to earlier in the evening, when I was at home getting ready, packing my purse with compact Bibles and tracts. I noticed a pack of extra-strength lozenges on my desk shelf that I had bought a while back when I had Strep Throat. I did not have a sore throat, and I certainly didn't feel one coming on. But I felt a nudge - bring the lozenges.

So I did. And I was able to give them to this sister-in-Christ, who's eyes welled up with tears when I told her about that earlier prompting. She squeezed my arm and laughed, and we both realized that these lozenges were just a little gift from Christ so that she could minister with us this evening with a comforted throat.

God doesn't always work in the same way. He is wisdom, and knows when to provide and when to withhold. Friday, He knew that this woman needed a simple gift that demonstrated His care for her.

God is at work - are you watching?