Leave Your Dinner on the Counter and Follow Me

Do you struggle with hearing God’s voice? When God speaks, it comes in all different forms. In the Bible you never see God speak to His people the same way twice. You also never see Him give the same amount of information to His people. It’s always a different amount. Why? I’m not entirely sure, but either way He accomplishes His work through His people. When He spoke to Moses through a burning bush, He gave very little information. When He spoke to Noah about building an Ark, God gave Noah all of the little details needed to build it. It’s the same way in our lives. God speaks to us in various ways. What are your markers to know when God is speaking? Is it a friend or family member, a song, or just reading the Bible? Well, for my friend Alex, it was through a simple prayer at the end of a softball game and needing a quick dinner for him to realize who was speaking.

On Monday nights, Alex plays on Woodland’s softball team. Many of his friends play on the team together, and they play various churches in Manatee County. At the end of the game on Monday night, the two teams gather for a quick time of prayer. The teammate who prayed said something quite significant that landed on Alex’s heart. He prayed, “Lord, let us go out and be obedient in our community.” Alex knew what he prayed was significant in his life, but he decided to go on with his day.

On the way home from the softball game, Alex needed dinner and stopped by a McDonalds drive-thru close to his house to grab a quick bite to eat. When he pulled out of the McDonalds drive-thru, he cut through the CVS parking lot right next door in order to get to a traffic light. When he drove by the CVS parking lot, he noticed a woman outside of the store with a stroller and two young children. In that moment, Alex had an encounter with God. He felt like God was calling him to go over to that woman and help her with what she needed. However, Alex decided to be stubborn, ignore it, and continued to drive home. On the drive home, the prompting from the Holy Spirit just kept nagging at him. He felt like he just missed an opportunity that God laid before him. He told himself the next time he receives a prompting, he will do it. When Alex arrived at home, he walked through the front door and found his roommate, Martin, sitting in the living room. Martin could immediately detect something was off with Alex. Martin asked Alex how he was doing and Alex knew he had to tell Martin about the prompting from the Holy Spirit he just had. So, Alex explained to Martin about how he felt like he needed to stop at CVS to help this woman. Martin recognized the prompting because he had once had a similar experience, but wasn’t obedient, and has regretted it ever since. Martin wanted to make sure Alex was obedient to the the prompting God placed before him. Therefore, Martin got up out of his seat and said, “Let’s go.” Alex paused out of shock, but agreed to go. He left his dinner on the counter and followed where God was leading him.

They drove down the road to the CVS and when they arrived, Alex saw the woman still there with her two children. There was also another woman on the phone with the police trying to get an officer to give the woman and her two children a ride home. Alex approached the woman with her children and asked her how she was doing and if she needed anything. The woman opened up to them and explained how she had just walked over three hours to get to this specific CVS. She needed to get some groceries and supplies for her family, but when she got to the CVS, her phone had died and she could not contact any friends or family to pick them up. Alex and Martin weren’t sure where she came from or why she had walked past other stores to reach this one? They never got a chance to ask her that question, but all they knew was that God had called them to this specific CVS. So they asked her what she needed and they bought her groceries and supplies like diapers, wipes, and baby powder. Alex and Martin came out of the store with the groceries and supplies and asked the woman where she needed to go, getting ready to take her wherever she needed to. Suddenly, a car pulled up and it was the woman’s mother-in-law. Alex and Martin had no clue how the mother-in-law managed to find her daughter in law and her grandkids, but they knew that God was still at work. So, Alex and Martin loaded up the groceries and supplies into the car, and before they drove away, they asked the woman if they could pray with her. She agreed. They both prayed over her and her family and sent them on their way. After that, the woman who was on the phone with the police, came up to them and told them they were such Good Samaritans for helping this woman and asked if they had found everything they needed. They thanked her for the kind words and told her they got everything that they needed. Alex and Martin knew they weren’t just Good Samaritans, but they were just being obedient to the prompting that God placed before them. Alex and Martin may never know what impact they had beyond the groceries and supplies. But they knew when God spoke and were obedient in what He was prompting them to do.

This story from Alex and Martin reminds me a lot of what Pastor Randy preached this past Sunday. You have to adjust your life to where God is leading you. Following God requires an adjustment. The need you have to control everything in your life has got to go. In Luke 5, when Jesus called out to His first disciples, Simon, to set out to deep water and put out your nets, they were baffled by the request because they had been fishing all night long without a single bite. But when they were obedient, their nets began to tear because of how much fish there were. From a business perspective, this was a game changer. They could hire employees and get more boats and become very wealthy. Instead, they saw who Jesus was, left everything, and followed Him. You will have to make the proper adjustments in your life to follow Him. In Alex’s case, he left his dinner on the counter and followed Him.