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Friday, November 14, 2014

Would You Shun Her or Help Her?

I awoke before the sun to have, "Coffee with my King", my time with my Savior and His word. I realized I was out of sugar so I decided to take a trip to our 24 hour Wal-Mart. I didn't tell my husband because it was just down the road and I would be back before he would wake up.
My daily prayer is that the Lord would empty me out completely of self, fill me with His Holy Spirit and use me for His glory. I prayed this simply prayer on the way to the store. I pulled into the barren parking lot about 4:45 am and as I walked toward the entrance, there was a young lady standing in front of the store. I smiled and said, "Good morning." She then stopped me and asked if I would buy her a pack of cigarettes because she was caught shoplifting and couldn't go back in the store. I hesitated for a second and the Lord prompted me to do it. I obliged and asked what kind she needed. She handed me some money for the purchase and I walked into the store.
My mind was going crazy! "I can't believe this is what You want me to do, Lord!" I proceeded to the sugar isle all the while thinking this was not right. I hate cigarettes and what the harm they cause! But the Holy Spirit was ever present!
I purchased my sugar, her cigarettes and met her outside the doors. She thanked me and I simply said, "You're welcome. God bless you." I then headed towards my van and suddenly I felt as if God had a Holy Spirit lasso that grabbed hold of me and He said, "You're not done! Give her a ride."
I got in my van, bowed my head and prayed. "You want me to give her a ride? Okay whatever You say, Lord."
I pulled up to the entrance, rolled down my window and asked if she needed a ride.
"No. My boyfriend is coming back to get me."
"How long have you been waiting for him?"
"About 30 minutes."
"Honey, he's not coming back to get you. God told me to give you a ride."
She hesitated but took me up on the offer.
"Where do you want to go?"
"I live in Hillsboro which is about 30 miles south."
"Okay. Just show me how to get there."
On the way to her house she shared her life story. How she grew up in an alcoholic and abusive home, that she really doesn't have a place to live but she stays with her mom from time to time when she isn't living with her boyfriend. She admitted that she carries a knife for protection because she's a prostitute. She's also an alcoholic and drug addict and she was stealing to support her habit.
My heart broke for her as I listened to her story. Her pain! Her brokenness! Only Jesus can heal her!
I shared a little of my testimony and how I was raised in a broken home but that when I surrendered my life to Jesus, He began healing my heart and turned my pain in to a beautiful story.
"I went to a church camp when I was younger but never felt welcome at a church" she said.
My heart was crushed even more!
I shared the Gospel with her and how Jesus wants her to come to Him with her pain and surrender it all to Him. She began to weep. When we finally pulled up to her mom's house, I would call it a shack, I asked if I could pray for her.
I grabbed her hands and the Holy Spirit said what He needed to say to her...We both wept and then embraced. She continued thanking me as she got out of my van and stood before my headlights. As tears rolled down both of our cheeks, I drove off and headed home.

I know what some of you are thinking but your thoughts don't matter. My God was pleased that I obeyed Him and loved on this beautiful broken soul! I was blessed by being a blessing to this woman I will call, Beautiful. Beauty is in the "eye of the beholder" and since God sees us through the eyes of Christ, no matter how ugly our lives appear to the human eye,  we are all made beautiful because of His suffering.
Her face is forever etched in my heart and I often pray that she is free from the bondage of sin. Pray for her. Pray for me that I will continue to see others through His eyes and not my own. Pray for the Body of Christ to stop shunning people who don't fit their "perfect American Christian standard" and start embracing people as Christ embraced us.

1 Corinthians 9:19-23 (The Message Bible)
"Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!"

2 comments:

  1. Oh Angie, what a precious story! I am so glad you obeyed, and will keep this broken lady in my prayers. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. God is good and I love being faithful to my King, Joy! Hugs!

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