(W)hile They Are Still Speaking...

About two years ago, our daughter had gone for a doctor’s appointment some distance from her home. Being into crafts, she stopped in at a large craft store on her way home. The first thing she saw on entering was a display of umbrellas. She couldn’t remember ever seeing umbrellas in a craft store before. She had plenty of umbrellas at home. In fact, she had one in the car. And while the sky was overcast, the forecast had only mentioned possible light scattered showers. But she picked up an umbrella anyway, not knowing why she felt she should.

After returning to her car with her purchases, she headed for the exit out of the shopping plaza. Just then it started to rain. She got to the stop light, and it began to pour. That is when things took an unusual turn. From the back seat came an urgent male voice that said, “Help him!” First, she looked in the back seat, and found to her relief that she was alone in the car. Next she looked around the outside of the car, and saw no one. Then the voice repeated, “Help him!”

She glanced around the car again, and saw an elderly man waking up behind her car in the middle of the roadway. He was pulling one of those collapsible grocery carts, filled, as our daughter described it, with all his earthly possessions. When he reached her door, she rolled down the window and handed him the new umbrella. Astonished, the man thanked her and began to unwrap and open it.

Then the voice in the back seat again said, “Help him!” Not sure what to do next, our daughter thought maybe she should look in her purse for some money for the man, but knew she didn’t have any. She never carried any cash; she used check cards almost exclusively. But she decided to look anyway. She had used her coin purse at the crafts store and knew it was empty. But she dug down deeper to see if there might be something there. At the very bottom she found a $20 bill. Not just an ordinary bill, but a crisp one that looked as if it had just come from the mint. She handed it to the man, who looked at her and said “Bless you. You’re a direct answer to prayer.”

In Isaiah 65:24 the Lord says “It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.” Our daughter had no need for a new umbrella and didn’t know why she was buying it. She knew there was no money in her purse, yet at the bottom was an unexplained $20 bill, inexplicitly unwrinkled.

But the Lord knew before the rain started that the elderly man would be calling, and was working to meet his need even before the man knew he was in need. What a beautiful experience. As our daughter said that night while relating the story to my wife and me, she had seen her own prayers answered before, but, to her knowledge, she had never before been a direct instrument in helping the Lord answer a prayer.

I see two lessons to be garnered here. First, the Lord is true to His promises. He does answer prayer. Secondly, He wants to use us as His hands in answering prayers, and will do so if we are willing. What a wonderful Lord.

Have a great day, and listen for a voice from your “back seat.”

Dr. G