I have the privilege to be the contact person for my church's ministry with the Salvation Army donations. We don't always have things to drop off every week, and I have to admit, I use to be annoyed that we couldn't have something every week to give people in need. To be honest, I am a slow learner and I will probably be annoyed again, but God is at work and he is teaching me, He allows me to be blessed through this ministry, and I am learning that He always accomplishes His will through those who are willing to do His work.
Sunday I started to leave church and realized I hadn't picked up the donations. I went back in and was handed a bag of travel sized deodorants. I took them, thinking what a great idea that was and was hoping they would be needed. I wished there was some kind of food that we could have given thinking that was the biggest need for them. But, you get what you get, so I took them, put them in my car and left them there for Monday after work delivery.
Monday was gorgeous and I was hoping to go outside for a walk, but I had to leave work early due to an appointment and then thought I'd continue down to the Salvation Army and drop off the donations. I rang the doorbell, it was the beginning of the Star Spangled Banner, to which I had to sing the rest of it while waiting in the entryway for someone to come and answer the door. They are not always quick to answer the door, mostly because they are busy, but sometimes I think they don't hear it. I opened the door to the outside to get some air, thought about coming back next week...thought to myself (the Spirit directing) there is no reason to be in a rush, you have all night, and things you planned can start anytime. So I pushed the doorbell again, sang again and one of the residents said they would get a worker to open the door.
The door opens and I am greeted by one of the calmest, kindest persons I have ever met. I handed her the bag of deodorants and without the slightest hint of surprise she told me that she was so thankful because they had just stocked the shelves and deodorant was the one thing they needed. It was a bit strange to see someone explain such a God thing with such normal tone and expression. My guess is she has seen it many times over, and I have a hunch that if I were truly looking for it, I'd see it much more often too.
She asked what church I was from and told her, and she was so thankful for the ministry our church has given to the people who find themselves in need of help for housing, food, and clothing. Once a month the women's group makes dinner and serves it for them. It has become a bit of a local buzz, that you don't want to miss that meal. Amy and Friends is what they have come to be known as and I would say that is a very accurate description. Sitting with people you may not otherwise run into during the course of your day, making them feel special with a meal you would eat yourself, asking questions, and listening, who doesn't want that?
I left there again, humbled to have been a small part of the blessings God is pouring out to these people. They may not know Him, but I am not called to minister to Christians only. A neighbor is a neighbor and I am to show them the love of Christ through my obedience to Him. It doesn't matter what I wish I could do, you give what you have, you do what you can, and God takes it and multiplies it, and He provides what He provides in His timing, and in His way, even when you can't see how in blazes it will work out.
Oh if I could learn this and cross it off the life lesson list and really get it. Being human I will learn this again, and again, and again. The experience from Monday is an ebenezer of sorts, so I will have to revisit it when I see no way of the provision happening in my life. I need to remember His faithfulness, and trust Him, not my ability to play tetris with my life. He can see all the shapes, so why not let Him fit them together?
Genesis 22
13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram[a] caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
