I usually start my day with this prayer: LORD, if there is anyone I can minister to or encourage this day, show me. Too often that petition is met with silence. Either God is not speaking or I'm not listening very well.
I asked again last Saturday during my personal Bible study. Still nothing. When I finished reading I sat quietly for a few minutes, meditating on the goodness and mercy of the LORD. Suddenly a name and face came to mind. It was a female real-estate agent we had met last fall while trying to sell our home. We had not seen her in months. Then the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) gave me these directions: Drive out to the housing development where she works and deliver a word of encouragement. The LORD quickened Jeremiah 29:11 and I scribbled the verse on notebook paper:
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
That afternoon my wife and I drove to the development, which reminded me of a ghost town. It was obvious the sluggish economy and subprime mortgage crisis had paralyzed the real-estate industry. Rows of new homes remained unsold and vacant. We parked and approached the office with the neon "Open" sign beaming from the window.
Our realtor friend, who is a Christian, looked up from her laptop in shock. "I can't believe it's you," she said softly. "And you picked this day to visit. I haven't been in this office for weeks." She got up from her desk and froze when I told her I came to deliver a word from the LORD. Tears streamed down her face as she read the note. She hugged us tightly and said repeatedly, "I can't believe it. This is a miracle." The night before, she told us, she had cried out to God in desperation, asking Him for a sign of hope. Her business was struggling. Her husband was injured recently in a car accident, preventing him from working. Her smoking habit had returned.
But Jeremiah 29:11 provided a soothing balm. She said the words had lifted a heavy weight. We prayed together and arranged to meet for lunch in three days. As we left for the car, tears streamed down my face. We had just seen Psalm 50:15 come to life: "Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me."
Posted by Jeff King at July 30, 2008 01:55 PM