Dear Friend,
I spent the last two days trying to get into an Amazon locker. Loitering way too long in the lobby of a supermarket, I couldn’t get the app to talk to the locker and kick the door open. Customer service ultimately couldn’t help, and I had to rush off to pick up my kid from the school around the corner. The next day, I was back again with the same problem: a locker that wouldn’t open. Customer service again. No hope again. “We’ll put in a ticket letting them know there’s a connectivity issue,” she told me.
“OK, but can I get my item?”
“If it doesn't open by tomorrow, we’ll ship the item back and give you a refund.”
“This is a hard-to-find refurbished item, and Christmas is around the corner.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am. All I can do is issue the ticket.”
After clicking the “Connect” button without luck for another ten minutes, I resigned myself to the fate that I’d have to reorder the one Christmas gift my son wanted.
Back in my vehicle, I corralled my options: re-order from Amazon or maybe see if I could find it on Facebook Marketplace? I did both in certain overkill mode. The kid had asked for this for months. How could I disappoint?
I started messaging with a local woman who had the used item for sale. She assured me that it was in full working order.
Meeting outside her sister’s apartment later that afternoon, we quickly figured out the transaction. She had close-cropped silver hair and a few extra pounds and a few extra cares. I handed over the agreed upon payment with a little “love gift” and a small invite card outlining our church’s Christmas services.
She wanted to talk. About her mom with dementia, struggles with unpaid property taxes, about her sister’s frustrations with lost mail, sorting out things with the internet company, about trimming trees, about how she and her sister plan to move out of state after her mom goes, about her previous road trips and national parks and sales tax and locations lived and earlier eras of life and struggle and confusion and anger and the woes of life. She stood there in shorts over sweatpants with a medical boot over one foot. Covered in woe.
“God cares about what’s going on with us. Thank goodness we can call out to him, and he hears us,” I say turning to wrap up the long conversation. “You’re welcome to join us for church this Christmas.”
“I’ll give it to my sister,” she posits.
We say our pleasant goodbyes. I hope she felt heard. I hope she felt loved.
I drive away wondering if God himself kept the locker locked.
Maybe he wanted to send his hands and feet and ears and heart to this one woman living in an apartment three miles from my house.
What do you think, friend?
I certainly don’t think so highly of myself to think this one small interaction will change the course of this woman’s life. But GOD is powerful and can do anything he wants. I don’t know all his purposes or plans, but sometimes He just positions us in situations that seem frustrating (two days of a locked locker) because he wants to position us to be a blessing to a person. A dead locker and a live person.
A follower of Jesus gets blown to the other side of town to meet a beleaguered soul.
May the Lord bless this woman. May she lay down her burdens at the feet of the One who can help her and will never leave nor forsake her.
I’m sure God’s already working on positioning
the next believer to be in her vicinity
or a scripture to fall in her lap
or childhood song whispering again in her ear, “Jesus loves me, this I know.”
I will probably not know the ending of this story. That’s OK. God’s working on it. God’s not locked out.
Blessings,
Your friend
Ponder. Pray. Practice.
Jesus told Nicodemus, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:8). What do you think about the ways Jesus describes the Holy Spirit— he goes where he wants, does what he wants, his objectives are mysterious? What are some ways the Holy Spirit “blows” believers where he wants them? Have you ever ended up somewhere surprising because God took you there? Did you know it was God while it was happening or only afterward?
How do you deal with interrupted plans? On a scale from 1 to 10, how flexible are you? What are some ways you could “keep your cool” when your plans fall apart? Consider praying something like this: “Father, thank you that I make my plans but you order my steps. You are in control. I had hoped to be doing XYZ right now, but I put this into your hands. Open my eyes to Your new plan. Show me where you’re working and how I can join you. Who can I bless today? You have my attention. I’m looking for you. I’m looking for ways to love you and love others in this moment. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”