A few months ago my wife and I worked hard to close out some business responsibilities. Specifically we needed to complete a major task and could not afford any more delays, since we had booked a trip to visit our friend abroad whom was going through a tough health struggle.
As a normal course of business, dates and times of appointments are frequently adjusted. Due to a clash of appointments, I had to fill in for my wife to meet customers in attending a home inspection. The only vehicle available to me was the one with license plate XXX47. When I stopped at the location my odometer read 44700 on the dot. “God is up to something”, I thought to myself.
Since I was the first person on site, I walked into the garage and noticed a little Jesus figure placed on top of a water heater. The text on the figure read – “Jesus Loves You”. I immediately felt this message was meant for our friend as an encouragement. I immediately forwarded it on to her.
My wife arrived later that morning to complete her duties. She met the builder who wore a bracelet with “What Would Jesus Do” on it and had some faith based tattoos. It turned out that his team were practicing Christians so any one of them could have placed the figure. Later on, when the transaction was finalized, the responsible person on the day had jewelry on her wrist with a number of Christian crosses attached.
Jesus gave us the dates to travel abroad and had everything in His hands. The event above took place on the 7th day of the month.
We experienced a blessed trip visiting our friend but her battle and scheduled treatment was far from over.
Back home we decided to take a weekend day and drive down to the beach and clear our minds. When we got hungry, my wife picked a non-franchised burger place off the map that looked interesting.
As we walked into the burger joint we noticed the Christian music playing in the background. The staff was super friendly and helpful. We ordered one normal drink and one specialty pineapple juice (which I fancy) drink.
The staff handed over our first cup. It had the phrase “Jesus Loves You” written on it by hand! The picture on the cup and their logo closely resembled our friends pet dog.
Next they handed over the special pineapple drink. At the bottom of the cup, in print, was Psalm 23:4, which reads:
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil; For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.”
While visiting, we joined our friend for church on the Sunday, which was during her better week. The senior pastor asked her to say a few words before service if she was feeling up to it. She did and emphasized Psalm 23:4; this was just more that week earlier. Specifically she said she was walking through the valley but the instruction from the Word is to keep walking with Jesus. The Bible does not instruct us to sit or lie down in a heap, but to keep walking. Eventually by God’s grace we (and she) will get to the other side of the trial, if we keep our eyes on Jesus.
Again, I immediately shared this message with our friend. Because of the time difference, she would only get this message in the morning when she woke up. God knew that – it was her birthday!
Of course the street number of this burger joint turned out to be 707.
God is not just some force out there in the ether. Because of what Jesus did for us all, He is a very personal God. If we keep our eyes and ears open and choose to walk with God, He shows Himself to encourage and help us.
The LORD directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way? – Proverbs 20:24
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. – Psalm 34:19
If you are curious about an interactive relationship with God, consider reading my book Ever Present Communicator: Engaging with a Dynamic God (2014) or my other blog posts. If you have any questions for me, you can also reach me via email.
Have a blessed day.