Saturday, October 26, 2019

A Small Exercise in Obedience

(I pulled this from one of my journal entries. It was written on September 10, 2018...)

Sooo…I see God. I see that He has been giving me small lessons in obedience over the course of the past year. 

The girls and I went to New Orleans for Labor Day weekend. Before the trip I visited the travel section in Target and I felt a prompting to purchase band aids. When it happened, I had a little back and forth with the Holy Spirit. I NEVER keep band aids on me. (I probably should, but I don’t.) Why on earth would I need them for this trip? Purchasing them would be a waste of a dollar. The prompting was so strong that I threw them in the basket.

While packing I struggled with where to put the band aids. I put them in a travel case I was checking and then I felt like I should probably put two in my purse, just in case.

I didn’t use or need a single band aid in New Orleans, which I was very aware of by the time I made it back to Cali. So WHHHYYY did I need them? 

Flash forward.

This past Friday at work, out of the blue Sarah (one of my co-workers) asked me if I happened to have a band aid. When I tell you…no one (besides my kids) has ever asked me for a band aid (that I remember), I mean no one. I was shocked. “As a matter of fact, I do.” I eagerly got it out of my purse and told her how I never just have band aids in my purse, but I felt like I needed to put two in there just a little over a week ago. I asked if she needed another and she said no…just the one.

Yesterday (Sunday) I was sitting in church. Shan was preaching. Out of the blue a lady named Porsha turned to me and asked if I have a band aid. (Somehow she had cut her finger.) I eagerly reached in my purse and pulled out the second band aid. She probably thought I was crazy because of how excited I was. “I have Neosporin in the car if you need that too…Do you need me to put it on for you?” (In hindsight, my reaction was hilarious.)

Sitting here writing, I realize that in both situations I offered more than what was needed. I don’t think that is necessarily a bad thing because I had a pure heart when I offered. I was just happy to be able to help and wanted the ladies to know it.

I’m so grateful for that experience and thankful that it all ended up making sense. No one in my family needed the band aids (praise God), but He had me get them for two of His children that He knew would need them and ask me for one. Wow!

I don’t pass all my tests, but I passed this one. I see that I need to get to a place where I don’t reason with the Holy Spirit at all—where I just do what He says to do without asking any questions BUT I am also happy to know that when I have strong promptings it is indeed Him. I also have a feeling that a bigger assignment is coming and that He is giving me small ones to show me how to recognize His leading when it happens.

I thank Him for the training sessions...