Description
When Heather’s job took her to Tim’s house to deliver his take-out meal, he asked her to help him untie the knot in the food bag. Tim had suffered from a stroke a few years prior and no longer had the ability to untie the knot himself. Heather cheerfully obliged. Throughout the rest of her day, Heather’s thoughts returned to Tim frequently and she was inspired to assemble a care package for him. When Tim later found the hot cocoa and red blanket she’d left at his door with an encouraging note, he was moved to tears.
Heather’s delivery became much more significant than she originally anticipated. The same was true when Jesse sent his young son David to supply his brothers with food when the Israelites “drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines” (1 Samuel 17:2). When David arrived with the bread and cheese, he learned Goliath had been instilling fear in God’s people with his daily taunting (vv. 8-10, 16, 24). David was incensed by Goliath’s defiance “of the armies of the living God” (v. 26) and was moved to respond, saying to King Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him” (v. 32).
God sometimes uses the circumstances of our daily lives to put us in places where He wants to use us. Let’s keep our eyes (and hearts!) open to see where and how He might want to serve someone.
Sell my late mother’s house? That decision burdened my heart after my beloved, widowed mother passed away. Sentiment drove my feelings. Still, my sister and I spent two years cleaning and repairing her empty home, resigned to sell it. This was in 2008, and a global recession left us with no...
Published 11/22/24
On November 22, 1963, US president John F. Kennedy, philosopher and writer Aldous Huxley, and Christian apologist C. S. Lewis all died. Three well-known men with radically different worldviews. Huxley, agnostic, still dabbled in Eastern mysticism. Kennedy held to a humanistic philosophy. And...
Published 11/21/24
Paul had gone to the temple for the Jewish purification ceremony (Acts 21:26). But some agitators who thought he had been teaching against the Law sought to take his life (v. 31). Roman soldiers quickly got involved and arrested Paul, bound him, and carried him from the temple area—with the mob...
Published 11/20/24