This weekend I had the privilege of going with a group of people from the church and our squad to another town to do a "Treasure Hunt". They do this in their group at church called Encounter. The idea behind it is you pray for an image or word, and after that you go out and try to find what God laid on your heart. As we sat in the church praying a saw an image of a slide – the old metal kind – an inhaler, and a coke can. I wrote down the slide and inhaler, but not the coke can. That morning there was coke bottles on the breakfast table, so I told myself I was probably just thinking about it because of that.
So as we gathered in our smaller groups, myself and three others went out in the streets. As our leader was telling us what to do a man passed who instantly grabbed my attention. He was an older gentleman with a tattoo on his forearm of a bird. My great grandfather had one very similar – faded with thickened lines. Because I didn't want to interrupt the instructions we were being given I let him pass. As soon as we finished I scanned the streets up and down looking for him.
I spotted him a block or so down, and noticed he was talking to my teammate Emily. A peace came over me knowing that he was being prayed for, but also a feeling of regret that God was calling me to pray for him and I let the opportunity pass. I truly believe that God calls us all to certain places or to do certain things, and if we do not follow His will He will send someone else in our place. I am grateful God sent Emily in place of me, but I told myself that nothing would stop me from following God's leading again.
And so we walked on. We walked a bit, not really feeling a leading or pull to any certain person or place. And then we turned the corner, and right there on the side of the building was a coke sign. It stuck out of the side of the building, literally right in front of my face. I knew I had to go in, but felt silly because I hadn't told my team about the coke can. So I said nothing. We walked on and as soon as we passed my heart was heavy. God was telling me to turn around, to go back, and as I thought of what to say to my team Ben – a squad mate I was with – asked if we could go back to a flower shop we passed.
I had to say something. If we went back there was no way we would make our way back to this shop. So I hesitantly spoke up and asked if we could stop at the store first, and explained the coke can and why I didn't write it down. They all agreed, and we headed in. As we walked in we split into pairs, and Ben came with me. I saw a woman pushing a cart, and she had a 2-liter of Diet Coke in her cart. I looked at Ben and he gave me that nudge with his eyes.
I walked over to the woman and explained where I was from, and what I was doing, and asked if there was anything I could pray for her about. She said yes, I could pray for her health, but her daughter was outside waiting for her and didn't have time for me to pray with her. Before she walked away I asked her name and she told me it was Rose. Rose – a type of flower.
I left there feeling alive with the Spirit. We walked on to the flower shop, which just so happened to be named Rosemary's Flowers. I looked at Ben and already saw the connections happening. We walked in, and Ben asked to pray for the owner. He said he didn't mind if he prayed, but again didn't want to pray with us. We prayed and walked on. We ended in a cafe, where we were served by a younger lady who seemed rushed and almost stressed.
As we finished our coffee Ben and our leader Ashley went to pay and said they wanted to run a quick errand. Ali and I saw a mother and daughter sitting there and decided to pray for her. As we walked over the first thing I saw was a Coke can. Not a bottle, not a Diet Coke, but a coke can. Again I just felt totally consumed by God’s Spirit. They were both so excited to talk and asked a ton of questions about us and our mission trip. When we asked what we could pray for the mother was quick to say we could pray for her daughter Claire and her upcoming sporting game. I then asked what we could pray for her and again she was quick to answer we could pray for her husband Eugene and his health.
I looked her in the eyes, trying to see beyond, but she looked down and played with her napkin. And so we prayed. We prayed for strength and no anxiety for her daughter, and total healing over her husband, and then we prayed for Mary. Mary the loving mother, quick to lift up prayers for her family, but not for herself. As we finished there was this look in her eyes that you know is just filled with meaning.
As we walked away we were met by Ben at the door who had a rose for us three girls, as well as the waitress. We were all so grateful and pleased to have been thought of, but our waitress smiled a sincere smile and thanked him, saying that it had totally brightened her day. I don’t know what Ben was thinking, but I was doing cartwheels and flips inside. This woman who was a quick breeze serving us stopped dead in her tracks, smiled, and gave a very genuine, sincere thank you for a simple rose. Wow. Thank you God.
I will continue to pray that God sends people to the lives of all the people we met that day, and they encounter Jesus in a time right for them. Also, I encourage all of you to be bold, and to step out of your comfort and share God’s love with someone today. And as you have a word for them don’t let that moment pass. Nothing is more important than sharing a word that God He has given you for someone else.
Love you all,
Bri
