THE SIMPLE THINGS

I revel in the simple things we do that may seem insignificant that God uses for His glory. He uses everything for His glory! I pray these thoughts inspire you to see that happening in your life. Seeing this goodness, I believe, helps us to see our purpose of glorifying God with every activity and interaction we have.

I try to show my appreciation to people in my life who encourage my faith journey or maybe head up certain ministries that enrich me. Sometimes it’s just a feeling I should send a quick text to someone saying I’m praying for them or to send a picture of a meaningful screenshot. I had the pleasure of experiencing the effect of that this past week.

I am a member of a newer to me Christian community that has encouraged my faith journey. I texted the man in charge to express my appreciation and decided to include a screenshot of a prayer. It holds special meaning to me because, as a young teen, I typed this prayer out and had it in a collection of inspirational writings. It was this:

 

The typewriter print of the prayer from  when I was a young teen!

 

At the time I sent it to this man, I felt I should send it to a few more people. It is always a blessing to see how God can use a simple thing like that in different ways in people’s lives. One friend, who I’ve known for almost 27 years, said, “Thank you, Christine! I’m familiar with this prayer and have shared it with others, just like you did with me. This is the first time, however, anyone has sent me this prayer, and I must tell you, it had a very powerful emotional impact on me. Tears are still running down my face.” She then asked if we could meet for a meal sometime as she wanted some ‘spiritual’ guidance.

With God’s perfect orchestration, it was truly amazing that three hours later we were at a park enjoying lunch and fellowship! It was an unexpected encounter that came about because of sending a “simple” prayer. Much to our surprise, five hours passed as we shared from our hearts, listened to each other, laughed, cried, and prayed together. It was a special time seeing Jesus’ face in someone who needed some encouragement. At the end, she said, “This is just what the doctor would have ordered.”

I had another blessing on my way home from that time of fellowship. I used my GPS to see the easiest way to get home. At one point, I decided to ignore the GPS and take the highway instead. God made me smile, as usual, when on the other side of the highway I saw a white CVS tractor trailer that had a big red heart in the middle of the cab. Have you seen them? Keep an eye out for them. As always, the heart is God’s reminder of His great love for me and to share that with others. If I had not taken the highway, I would not have seen it. I also said a prayer for my friend that she experienced God’s love in our meeting and a prayer for her.

 

The red heart to look for on the cab of the tractor trailers.

Photo courtesy of Chris Rycroft under Creative Commons License (CC BY 2.0)

 

 

What stood out to me about these events?

The importance of…

…following the inkling to spread good cheer.

…connecting with others.

…thinking, praying for, and communicating with others throughout the day.

 

…reaching out when we need a human voice to encourage us.

…sharing our faith and faith journey with others.

…relationships over our never-ending to-do list.

 

…listening with our hearts and ears.

…letting people know they are not alone.

…praying with and for people.

 

Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.  –Galatians 6:10  (NLT)

In the different circumstances of our busy lives, can you try to take time to see what good you can do? Can you hold the door open for the next person, can you offer a “Have a good day” greeting, or let a car out of a busy intersection?

 

And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.  –Hebrews 10:25  (NLT)

Can you find a few minutes to connect with a friend over coffee or take a quick walk? It might just be enough to encourage the person and make them smile.

 

Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.  –James 1:19  (NLT)

Do you need to practice listening with your heart? Try to really listen with your heart and ears rather than interrupting to share your own experience.

 

 

 

This week, be encouraged to…

…spread a little extra goodness in the world.

…take time to connect in person with someone.

…listen with your heart to someone who is struggling.

 

Take a moment to reread that prayer above and know that is my prayer for you this week, my dear reader. God bless!

 

At that same time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and he said, “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.”  –Luke 10:21  (NLT)