Be Late More Often
This was the message of the preacher at one of the local Irish churches we visited today. He described how he was late for a prayer meeting and was stopped by a homeless woman wanting some food. He quickly dismissed her saying he was late for a prayer meeting and then thought how ridiculous that sounded, so he turned around to help her. When he finally got to the prayer meeting and saw that it had ended, he realized that he had experienced “church” out on the street, NOT in a building. He asked us how often are we truly present and not in a hurry. Do you ever find yourself texting while in the company of someone else?
BE PRESENT.
I immediately was convicted. You see, we have been doing ministry all day, pretty much every day, so when you finally get free time, we are rushing around to get it all done. Last week we walked out the door of the homeless shelter and our first “interruption” was a lady, who so graciously donated a wealth of food. I was already a little frustrated, then a homeless man approached us asking all sorts of questions. My immediate thought was: doesn’t this man know that this is the only free time I have all day? He is keeping me from what I need to get done.
BE LATE MORE OFTEN.
You see, I saw this man as an interruption to my planned out free time and not as a “divine appointment.” Here I am on a missions trip, wanting to show the Love of Christ to people I encounter and I almost missed that opportunity. We ended up talking to this man John, and one of my teammates prayed with him. Lord, help me to be sensitive to these opportunities.
