MISSED OPPORTUNITY, GREAT LESSON



MISSED OPPORTUNITY, GREAT LESSON

Yesterday when I was at the fairgrounds, I asked God to open doors for me to pray with people. My prayer was specifically that God would show me who he would want me to pray for, for whatever reason with the goal of perhaps bringing healing, deliverance, or salvation to someone. 


I walked around the midway and I prayed silently for many people I saw. “Lord, bless this family and their kids”... things like that.


After enjoying some pizza, an elephant ear, and some lemonade, I went back to my vehicle waiting for my parking shift.


So far, I felt no impression to go up to anybody. I was content to just quietly pray for people, knowing that prayer matters. If there was no appointment, so be it. 


As I’m sitting in my vehicle, which was far out in the parking lot, a man limped by, right in front of me. The man looked very uncomfortable. I didn’t know if something had just happened or it was an ongoing issue. There was no doubt that this man was hurting. Again, I didn’t feel a “pull” to go talk to the man, so I prayed for the man in my car. I was surprised that I didn’t sense a sign in my heart to get up and introduce myself and ask if he was okay.


I admit, I was a little disappointed at the end of the night when I went home because I never felt any impression to actually introduce myself to a stranger to pray for them.


This morning, I woke up and a wave of thoughts entered my mind. The thought was, “What stopped you from approaching this man and offering to help? You SAW with your own eyes that this man was suffering. Would it have hurt for you to say, “Hey man, are you okay? Do you need help?” It occurred to me that if the man wasn’t interested in help, he would have said so. But also he could have opened up, shared what happened, and presented an opportunity for me to say, “Hey man, I’m a Christian and I believe that sometimes God can heal injuries. Would it be okay if I prayed for you?”


I will never know if God would have healed that man or not because I didn’t recognize the most important clue - I saw him.


So, this morning I wrote this all down in my journal and then I turn to today’s Gospel reading in the Revised Common Lectionary (this is what I use for a Bible reading plan) and OF COURSE it’s directly related to this experience.


Today’s Gospel reading is Luke 13:10-17 (Proper 16, year C). The part that leaped out at me was 10-12: 

On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward…”


JESUS….SAW….HER….


The clue that Jesus used in this text is the exact same clue that God was speaking to me about this morning.


I was sitting in my vehicle waiting for lightning to clue me into pray for this guy when my EYES were already seeing someone who was in need.


Missed opportunity….great lesson.


Have a blessed day!

Mike


Image Credit: Barbara Schwarz "Jesus and the Bent Over Woman," acrylic on canvas, 2014.

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