By Pat
It's so easy to share our struggles, to tell about how we grapple with faith and the the things we question in our Christian walk. I know I certainly do my share of it! After all, we as Christians are all walking a similar path. Although the destination is the same, the route we take and the scenery along the path is usually quite different. We like to share; we need to share.
I am so thankful for the gift of friendship and the chance to give my cares and prayer requests to my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, and for the chance to share theirs as well. What a blessing. This past Saturday evening, God spoke to me concerning an issue I have been praying about for the past couple of months, and oddly enough, He didn't speak through one of the friends who are familiar with the issue I am wrestling with. Even though several people know the situation and have given me encouragement, and have kept it in prayer, they usually only discuss it with me when I bring it up, not spontaneously... and that's fine.
So here I was this past Saturday evening, having a rare time of quiet, when out of the blue, God spoke to me. Audibly? No. Text message? No. Phone call from God? Nope. God chose to give me the words I needed to hear through a stranger-on Facebook! Now, as silly as that may sound, it's completely true. I have become Facebook friends with a handful of people I don't know through common pages we like: "Circle of Prayer" and "The Bible," to name a couple.
Occasionally I will receive a friend request from someone, usually as a result of a comment I have made to someone else, and to be perfectly honest, I don't usually accept the requests. But for some reason, I did accept a friend request from a woman in Ohio, someone I do not know. But the important thing is that God knows her, and God used her. She wrote something on my Facebook wall that was exactly what I needed to hear concerning the issue I have been praying about, even though she had no knowledge of it. Now, how cool is that?
God never ceases to amaze me, doing the unexpected... in HIS timing. I have no doubt that God orchestrated this entire series of events. I will probably never meet this lovely woman this side of Heaven, and yet I now feel a bond with her that I will always remember, and will remain grateful to her for following God's urgings. It taught me a lesson. Don't look for God in the places you expect to find Him. Just look for God. Period. In everyone, every day, everywhere, all the time. He likes to surprise us when we're open to His voice. And always remember that you might be the answer to someone's prayer if you allow God to use you. Follow His little urgings. My friend allowed God to use her in the life of a stranger, and I am so thankful to her and to God. With Jesus as a common bond, we aren't really strangers at all, are we? Lord, you are SO COOL!
Pat is a good friend who is passionate about her faith and her family. She works from home supporting a family business, and loves to read, write and garden when she can, and spends every spare moment with her grandkids.