2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.Colossians 4: 2-6 NIV
As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” John 9: 4-5
Twice in as many days, and this isn’t to honor me ,but to brag on God and His timing and open doors, his loving, caring, compassionate heart, and what happens if we’ll just be, as Patsy Clairmont said in the title of her humorous devotional book,”Cracked Pots” who let the Light shine through our humanity. On Tuesday morning at the opening women’s ministry meeting, I hung my purse on a chair, only one woman I didn’t know sitting there , brought back a plate of fruit, and began engaging in conversation with the four other women at the table. Nothing earth-shaking – just friendly conversation. That led to me connecting with Peg. She told me later she was a bit unsure but got the Holy Spirit’s nudge to talk with me. And the result was me being able to drive Peg to the Tuesday night Healing Room at Two Rivers Church, to intercessors who’ve blessed me many times, so she could get some words from the Lord. When I heard the laughter coming from the prayer room, I knew I’d done the right thing, and Peg indeed got her “socks blessed off.” Way to go, Abba God!
Then this morning, for whatever reason, I decided to pop into the grocery store I’d visited on Tuesday to see if any of the reduced price protein drinks were still there. so I pull into a parking lane and wait for the older (says she who is 68!!) woman to walk by before I pull into a spot. She’s getting a cart at the entrance as I walk up, and she motions me to go ahead, but I say,”No, please go ahead.” As she walks in, she jokingly says, “Open sesame!” and I reply, ”Oh, you must be magic !” That silly little exchange opened the door for her to share that she’dpaid a large bill by check, put it in the mailbox, but the letter carrier dropped that envelope, someone picked it up, “washed” the pay to line, and chased her check. Now she was in a tight financial bind. I touched her shoulder and prayed with her for God to bring her vindication, and restitution, and she thanked me and said, “Amen!”
Twice in two days straight, after Carol had shared on Monday about being Holy Spirit-nudged to pray with a woman in the produce section of Wal-Mart, motivated by the lack of plastic bags readily available! And Melanie on Tuesday driving back to give some encouragement and affirmation to a woman she’d passed, standing on the sidewalk, who said thanks after Melanie simply said hello to her! Linda’s had those encounters, and so have Donna, Libby, Lily, the other Carol, Yolanda, Val, Debbie, Julia ……
It ain’t me! It doesn’t just happen to me! It’s God pouring out HIS light, love, encouragement, empathy, compassion, smile, validation, affirmation, acknowledgement to people who need a bit of light, a word of cheer, and breath of hope from The Almighty Himself, just poured out through us “cracked pots”!! All we need to do and be – all YOU need to do and – is available and ”cracked” enough to get over yourself and your insecurity (yes, I get it; me, too!) and start a conversation! I’ve lost track of how many times God has done this through. (See my past post about “Connect the Dots” for a few more).
Oh,Rose and ________________ (fill in your name), why do you ever doubt Jesus loves you?Why do you ever doubt the Holy, Almighty, Creator and King of Kings DOES want to live and love through you,to be a vessel of His Light and Love and Truth and Word on Earth?! Why do you think you’re the power that moves in these Divine encounters? As in the opening words of the book The Purpose-Driven Life, “IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU!”
Soooo …… as Jesus told us, HIS “disciples” meaning “sent ones,” “As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” John 9: 4-5 Carry HIS Light! Be that “cracked pot” that God’s Light can shine through. Night IS coming, and we need to get out into the Harvest fields of people all around us and share God’s Love through Jesus, by the Holy Spirit who DOES live in you and me and us who call ourselves Christ Followers, not just Sunday morning pew warmers.
Your”…BUT…”to pray: God, I admit it ,sometimes I’m downright too insecure and chicken and people-pleasing/people-fearing to open my mouth and say hello to someone, much less pray WITH them, BUT YOU ARE ABLE, so help me get over myself and_______________________________________and help me SEE the next open door YOU open in front of me so I can help someone who needs to see and experience YOUR LIGHT of LOVE right then and there. Holy Spirit – gulp – I know YOU will help me, so I ask this in Jesus’ Name, amen!

Making the most of the sands of time