“There are no
shortcuts to any place worth going…” ~ Unknown
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
“But he said to me, "My grace is
sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I
will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may
rest on me. That is why, for Christ's
sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in
difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong…”
Habakkuk 3:19
The
Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he
enables me to go on the heights. For the director of music. On my stringed instruments.
“Smooth sea never
makes good sailors… Clear skies never
make good pilots… Problem free life
never makes a strong & good person…
So don’t ask life, ‘why me?’ Instead say, ‘try me!’ ~ Unknown
“You
will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest
quality of the mind next to honor…” ~ Aristotle
Ek het 'n email ontvang wat ek vandag met
julle wil deel... Dit laat 'n mens dink - partykeer judge ons mense oor
hoe hulle lyk - sonder om hulle storie te ken... God werk egter op
snaakse maniere, en partykeer moet mens deur moeilike tye gaan, en moeilike
situasies aandurf, ten einde God se wil vir mens se lewe te laat geskied - en
om vir God die eer vir ALLES te gee... Daar gaan goed in mens se lewe
gebeur wat jou sal nederig maak, en vir jou laat besef - God is in beheer, maak
nie saak wat nie... Miskien is jy tans in een van daardie
"humbling" situasies - hou uit en hou aan... JOU God is in
beheer, en Hy werk met 'n plan... Ek hoop dit raak jou aan soos dit vir
my aangeraak het... Maak ‘n tydjie om
dit te lees – weet dit lyk lank, maar dit sal jou seën!
I sat, with two friends, in the picture
window of a quaint restaurant just off the corner of the town-square. The food
and the company were both especially good that day. As we talked,
my attention was drawn outside, across the street. There, walking into town,
was a man who appeared to be carrying all his worldly goods on his back. He was
carrying, a well-worn sign that read, 'I will work for food.' My heart sank.
I brought him to the attention of my friends and noticed that
others around us had stopped eating to focus on him. Heads moved in a mixture
of sadness and disbelief. We continued with our meal, but his image
lingered in my mind. We finished our meal and went our separate ways. I had
errands to do and quickly set out to accomplish them. I glanced toward the town
square, looking somewhat half heartedly for the strange visitor. I was fearful,
knowing that seeing him again would call some response. I drove through town
and saw nothing of him. I made some purchases at a store and got back in my
car. Deep within me, the Spirit of God kept speaking to me: 'Don't
go back to the office until you've at least driven once more around the
square.'
Then with some hesitancy, I headed back into
town. As I turned the square's third corner, I saw him. He was standing on the
steps of the store front church, going through his sack. I stopped
and looked; feeling both compelled to speak to him, yet
wanting to drive on. The empty parking space on the corner seemed to be a sign
from God: an invitation to park. pulled in, got out and approached the
town's newest visitor. 'Looking for the pastor?' I asked.
'Not really,' he replied, 'just resting.' 'Have you eaten today?' Oh, I
ate something early this morning.' 'Would you like to have lunch with me?' 'Do
you have some work I could do for you?' 'No work,' I replied 'I commute here to
work from the city, but I would like to take you to lunch.' 'Sure,' he replied
with a smile. As he began to gather his things, asked some surface
questions. Where you headed?' 'St. Louis ' 'Where you from?'
'Oh, all over; mostly Florida ..' 'How long you been walking?' 'Fourteen
years,' came the reply.
I knew I had met someone unusual. We sat across from each other in the same restaurant I had left earlier. His face was weathered slightly beyond his 38 years. His eyes were dark yet clear, and he spoke with an eloquence and articulation that was startling. He removed his jacket to reveal a bright red T-shirt that said, 'Jesus is The Never Ending Story.' Then Daniel's story began to unfold. He had seen rough times early in life. He'd made some wrong choices and reaped the consequences.. Fourteen years earlier, while backpacking across the country, he had stopped on the beach in Daytona.. He tried to hire on with some men who were putting up a large tent and some equipment. A concert, he thought. He was hired, but the tent would not house a concert but revival services, and in those services he saw life more clearly. He gave his life over to God. 'Nothing's been the same since,' he said, 'I felt the Lord telling me to keep walking, and so I did, some 14 years now.'
'Ever think of stopping?' I asked. Oh, once
in a while, when it seems to get the best of me But God
has given me this calling. I give out Bibles That's what's in my sack. I
work to buy food and Bibles, and I give them out when His Spirit leads.'
I sat amazed. My homeless friend was not homeless. He was on a mission and
lived this way by choice. The question burned inside for a moment and then I asked:
'What's it like?' 'What?' To walk into a town carrying all your things on your
back and to show your sign?' 'Oh, it was humiliating at first. People would
stare and make comments. Once someone tossed a piece of half-eaten bread and
made a gesture that certainly didn't make me feel welcome. But then it became
humbling to realize that God was using me to touch lives and change people's
concepts of other folks like me.'
My concept was changing, too. We finished our
dessert and gathered his things. Just outside the door, he paused He turned to
me and said, 'Come Ye blessed of my Father and inherit
the kingdom I've prepared for you. For when I was hungry you gave me food, when
I was thirsty you gave me drink, a stranger and you took me in.' I
felt as if we were on holy ground. 'Could you use another Bible?' I asked.
He said he preferred a certain translation. It travelled well and
was not too heavy. It was also his personal favourite.. 'I've read through it
14 times,' he said. 'I'm not sure we've got one of those, but let's
stop by our church and see' I was able to find my new friend a Bible that would
do well, and he seemed very grateful. 'Where are you headed from
here?' I asked. 'Well, I found this little map on the back of this amusement
park coupon.' 'Are you hoping to hire on there for awhile?'
'No, I just figure I should go there. I figure someone under that star right
there needs a Bible, so that's where I'm going next.'
He smiled, and the warmth of his spirit
radiated the sincerity of his mission. I drove him back to the town-square
where we'd met two hours earlier, and as we drove, it started raining. We
parked and unloaded his things. 'Would you sign my autograph book?'
he asked.. 'I like to keep messages from folks I meet.' I wrote in his
little book that his commitment to his calling had touched my life. I
encouraged him to stay strong. And I left him with a verse of scripture from
Jeremiah, 'I know the plans I have for you, declared the Lord,
'plans to prosper you and not to harm you; Plans to give you a future and a
hope.' 'Thanks, man,' he said. 'I know we just met and we're really
just strangers, but I love you.' 'I know,' I said, 'I love you,
too.' 'The Lord is good!' 'Yes, He is. How long has it been since
someone hugged you?' I asked. A long time,' he replied. And
so on the busy street corner in the drizzling rain, my new friend and I
embraced, and I felt deep inside that I had been changed.. He put his things on
his back, smiled his winning smile and said, 'See you in the New Jerusalem.'
'I'll be there!' was my reply. He began
his journey again. He headed away with his sign dangling from his bedroll
and pack of Bibles. He stopped, turned and said, 'When you see something that
makes you think of me, will you pray for me?' 'You bet,' I shouted
back, 'God bless.' 'God bless.' And that was the last I saw of
him. Late that evening as I left my office, the wind blew strong. The
cold front had settled hard upon the town. I bundled up and hurried to my car.
As I sat back and reached for the emergency brake, I saw them.... a pair of
well-worn brown work gloves neatly laid over the length of the handle. I picked
them up and thought of my friend and wondered if his hands would stay warm that
night without them. Then I remembered his words: 'If you see
something that makes you think of me, will you pray for me?' Today
his gloves lie on my desk in my office.. They help me to see the world and its
people in a new way, and they help me remember those two hours with my unique
friend and to pray for his ministry. 'See you in the New Jerusalem,' he said.
Yes, Daniel, I know I will... 'I shall pass this way but once. Therefore, any good that I can do or any kindness that I can show, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again.'
Blessings!
Anel
xx
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