Just Another Day?
Anissa, with her husband Eric and their three children, are artists/musicians and IMB church planting catalysts living in Sweden.
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We often wake up and quickly fall into our usual routine, whatever that may be.
We start the day with coffee, and end it with tea.
When we leave our home, we are often tunnel-focused on what we have to accomplish; headed from point A to point B. Sometimes we are in such a hurry that we don’t even leave the smallest margin for God to interrupt our day or surprise us with a beautiful divine appointment.
We’re rushing out the door; no time for anything more.
Each day like that before, and all we see is Just Another Day.
What if we are missing something special that God has planned?
What if each day the sunshine and rain were set into motion before life began? And what if each person we met was on purpose, a divine intersection, a part of God’s Plan?
Psalms 139:16 says “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
How would that affect the way we live? The way we wake up in the morning? The way we go from point A to point B?
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A few Saturdays ago, I had such a moment, a divine intersection… but this time I was ready and available to let God interrupt my schedule and use me while I was “on my way.” I was headed to a Social Media Workshop Event that Eric and I were hosting for all our local artists at Stockholms Groove, a community of songwriters in Stockholm. As I was almost to my bus stop, I heard a voice saying
“Can you help me?”
I could see my bus stop just ahead, and knew that if I helped this lady, I would miss my bus and be late for our own event we were hosting to bless artists in practical ways. (Luckily, Eric was already there early.) I remembered God strongly saying the day before…“Let me interrupt your plans…be available…I am speaking in between here and there.”
So, I talked with this lady (about my age) who was lost and looking for the king’s palace on the street that I live on; quite far off from where we were. I live on a completely different island than the palace. So I spoke with her and found out that she is a musician/pianist from Russia visiting Stockholm for just a few days for a meeting. She was so excited to hear that I was also a musician. She was free that day and wanted to see the palace and music hall.
“Do you have a transportation card?” I asked.
“No.” she replied. “Where do I get one of those?”
“I will take you and show you.”
So I walked with her to the train station to help her buy a pass and show her how to get to the palace. On the walk, she asked me if I was Swedish, and I shared that I was not. She asked why I lived in Sweden, and then I had the opportunity to share a bit of my story and what God had done in my life to lead me across the world. She was immediately interested and asked “So you believe in God?” I said “Yes, what is your experience with God or church?”
She explained that most Russians don’t really believe in God and don’t go to church. She said that she does not go to church, but believes there could be a God. She was so excited as I told her that Eric and I were kind of like pastors to those who don’t have a pastor or church. I shared with her from Psalm 139 how much God loves her and created her uniquely and wonderfully. He cares for her and sees her. He saw her before she was even created in her mother’s womb and He longs for a relationship with her.
She just smiled.
I told her that maybe the reason why she was on my street that day and we met was so that I could share God’s love with her. She was so happy when she got on the train, and neither of us wanted to say goodbye. I gave her my contact info and said she could call me if she needed anything else while in Stockholm. I truly pray that God will continue to water the seed of hope that was planted within her!
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What if I wouldn’t have taken the time to stop and help her? What if, like the countless other times, I was in too much of a hurry to get where I was going? I would have missed out on the blessing of meeting this young woman and the joy of sharing God’s love and message of hope with her. God certainly didn’t need me and could have used anyone else he wanted to speak to this woman. But what a privilege we have to join Him in His resurrection work of bringing dead things to life; bringing light to the darkness!
2 Corinthians 4:6 says “For God who said, ‘Let the light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”
We are to share this light at all times. May we be so full of God’s light and hope that it overflows out of our hearts and spills onto all those we meet, as it says in Romans 15:13:
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
If we would just slow down, be intentionally aware and available to God, we could experience His blessings in such a beautiful way while we are “on our way.”
Each day is so much more than Just Another Day.