2But Samuel replied: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
I had to take my husband for a medical test a while back. They had to put him under anesthesia, and therefore I had to go with him to drive him home.
This was the first time I experienced the new ‘procedure’ for safety protocols since covid-19, and it was a while ago now, so I am pretty sure these procedures have loosened up. We arrived at the facility and were greeted by a small table outside the locked entrance. A sign said ‘knock on the door and someone will come’. He did, and a nurse in mask and plastic gown came out and sat at the table. She asked him a few questions, took his temperature, had him sign paperwork and asked me for my cell phone number. Then she explained to me that due to covid-19, I was not allowed to wait for him inside the building. I had to wait in the parking lot in the back of the building. I would be called when my husband was ready to come out.
I was a little taken aback. Since he was sedated I wanted to hear what the Dr. said about the test, he might miss something. But, that was the way it was. I drove around the back, and waited. It was a beautiful day, so I popped the trunk and sat in the hatchback to catch some rays! There was another car in the lot with someone in it waiting, but that was it.
Not too much later another car pulled in in the space 2 spaces away. A very animated woman got out of the car and began putting bags from the front into the back. She opened her trunk and began muttering things like ‘where is it, I can’t find it, I must have lost it in the move’. Of course, I had no idea what she was talking about, but I did say hi. She said I have lost my social security card. My heart sank! I had a wallet stolen once and my social security card was in it. I felt her pain. All the horrors of what could happen if that card got into the wrong hands ran through my mind in a flash!
I tried to encourage her to slowly look through each of her bags. She said she did. She did it again. No success. Finally I asked if I could pray for her. She said ‘please do’. At the proper distance, I reached my hand toward her and prayed, loudly. We were in a noisy outdoor area after all. I asked our great God to open her eyes to be able to see where that card was, and open her mind to the Holy Spirit as He revealed to her where she should look. I quoted,
Jeremiah 33:3 3‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’
She thanked me and said she must be going to the Social Security office before the line grew to a mile long. We exchanged our first names, and she was off.
I continued to pray for Marlene. Then I got busy with some phone calls, and such. Pretty soon I hear my name being called. I did expect my husband to come out soon, so I thought the nurse was calling me from the door that he was ready. Nope, it was Marlene. She pulled up next to my car and talked so fast I could hardly understand her. It appears that on her way to the Social Security office a thought came to her. ‘Look in the black case’. She told herself, ‘you have looked in that several times already’. When she arrived at the office she reached down on the front seat, opened the black case, and voila! The Social Security card she had been searching for, was there!
Of course she thanked me profusely for the prayer. I reminded her it was the Holy Spirit who earned the credit, I was just the pipeline that God could work through. She was ecstatic. I told her I appreciated the fact that she came back to tell me. She explained that she had to! The Lord put you in my path to pray for me, I had to come back to thank you. When she left I began to wonder, how many times do we pray for a situation when the Holy Spirit prompts us, but we never know the result of our prayer. Then I thought about how many times we neglect to pray because we fear being rejected. We may have been the pipeline God wanted to use for an answer to a prayer. The next time fear stops you from doing something you believe the Lord is prompting you to do, think about Marlene. Would she have found that card in time without the prayer?
I found myself grinning and thanking Jesus for a real life illustration of the Holy Spirit at work. Right in the back parking lot of a medical facility during a pandemic. Go figure!
I know I am not the only one who has these experiences. Please tell me yours. Tell me how it made you feel to be used as ‘God’s pipeline’ for a blessing.
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