You never know who Holy Spirit is going to use to minister to you… Not only the “who” of it, but the “where” of it. I’ve learned not to put God in a box.
I share with you this true story with the permission of the sister it includes. Yesterday, God introduced me in the most unexpected of places to a physically blind woman who could SEE even clearer than any of my unsaved, sight-seeing friends. My husband and I had made appointments for massages and after a really busy week working at the hospital, I was looking forward to just zoning out on the massage table and just enjoying a quiet massage while praying silently in my head… Hardly did I know that those were MY plans – not God’s…
“Many are the plans in a persons heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” (Proverbs 19:21)
I had thought that I needed a physical massage for my tired body… God knew that it wasn’t just my body that was “tired” but my soul and I had absolutely NO idea that I would be walking into a place where the Lord would use this beautiful “spirit-filled” seeing masseuse who not only physically massaged my body (better than any sight-seeing masseuse I might add…) BUT gave me spiritual sustenance by the power of Holy Spirit in the massaging my spirit as well.
I had been surprised in the waiting room of the Massage place when she called my name and I looked up to see this beautiful blind woman holding a hot pink walking stick. I hadn’t been expecting that (although it didn’t make a difference to me) I love the color pink, so I complimented her on the stick as she held open the door to the hallway indicating with a gesture of her head which direction I should walk towards the room in which the massage was going to take place. Once there, she went over the usual schmeal of how I should get ready for the massage, questioned which type of scented essential oil did I want to use, and told me that she was going to leave the room and whenever I was ready, to hop up onto the massage table and she would knock on the door before re-entering to begin the massage. I thanked her and did as I had been instructed. True to her word, she knocked and entered the room at my, “come in.”
I was lying face down ready for her to begin my massage. As I indicated above, I was looking forward to a quiet, relaxing time. So I didn’t say a word. Well, that was until this beautiful daughter of the Most High God (while beginning to strongly massage my shoulders), out of the blue exclaimed to me, how much she loved the Lord, and what a blessed day she was having! Yep, just like that! My eyes shot open in surprise, I hadn’t indicated anything of my faith or my walk with the Lord to her, I had just been lying there and the light of Christ radiated from this beautiful sister in a way that boldly declared that I was in the presence of one who saw with a depth greater than I!!! I tell you the God’s honest truth! There is NOT a rock in this world that will cry out louder than this beautiful sister. Out of the blue, just like that. Which of course got my spirit revved up! You see, there is nothing more illuminating than getting together with someone who mutually shares your passion and love for the Lord! The Bible says in Matthew 18:20:
“Whenever two or more are gathered in My name their I am in their midst.”
Well! There the THREE of us gathered in this little massage room – Olivia, me and Holy Spirit! And my goodness! There was NOTHING debilitating about it! We had a wonderful Holy Ghost of a time! Two daughters of the Most High God sharing stories of God’s goodness and testifying over our shared mutual love for Our God. The room became charged with the Holy Spirit and I realized that I was in the presence of a woman who for all intense purposes, was NOT by any means blind at all, but had a great deal of profound spiritual insight!
Although I have seen blind people before, I had never had a deep conversation with one, and Olivia openly shared her testimony of how she had lost her sight at the age of 21, unexpectedly due to glaucoma (much to the surprise of her doctors, as she had never had a problem with vision, never worn glasses) and it was something that happened suddenly. She had been a backslidden Christian at the time, and thought the fault had been one of her own and for a long time she was angry with God.
She began to attend church again and even experienced the laying of hands, and brethren praying for healing over her. But the sight God revealed to her at this time that she would have restored was one of a spiritual nature. And the joy and love for the Lord that this Sister has for God is almost palpable when you get to conversing with her! She spoke about how much she loves the Lord, and actually how thankful she is for all that she has been through because it has brought her into a deeper relationship with God, that perhaps otherwise she would not have experienced. She spoke about how sometimes she is so filled with the light and love of God that she forgets that she is physically blind! She spoke of God’s provision and how He has always provided for her and she has never been in want. She spoke of how prior to becoming blind she had dreams of being a cosmetologist and how devastated she had been once she had lost her sight, that she would not be able to become one. However, how out of the blue, God brought people into her life to recognize that she could become a masseuse instead! And how the state of Texas paid totally for her training! How this job as a masseuse in this particular spa opened and they came across her name during the time of COVID when they were having a difficult time finding people to work. How God has blessed her and kept her healthy and working and has been using her mighty much through this servitude profession to share her love of Christ with others, when Holy Spirit prompts her to do so.
I asked her how she knew to do so with me, and she laughed and said, “I had seen on your paperwork that you were requesting someone who did not talk during your massage.” She laughed again, “But I could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit charged around you and I had to say something…” (Talk about an ouch moment… Yes, I had requested that and was feeling pretty convicted when she mentioned that… Clearly my plans for those 90 minutes were NOT God’s plans and I felt the chastening of the Holy Spirit…)
“Well… That was true…” I admitted ashamedly.. “But the Holy Spirit radiates FROM you and it is contagious in a GOOD sense and honestly, when that happens, it is like it says in Jeremiah 20:9:
“But if I say, “I will not mention His word or speak anymore in his name,” His word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.”
And we giggled like two little girls sharing a great secret. Yesterday, I was gifted not only with the best physical massage I have ever had, but I had a spiritual massage too – God blessed me a double portion and not only that – I made a new, already dear friend who I pray I will have countless of wonderful learning experiences in our mutual walks with God. If THAT isn’t a God divine moment, I honestly don’t know what is…
Nothing is a “coincidence” I don’t think it is one that God has had me focus lately on studying more on the writings in the Bible by the Apostle Paul… In 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 Paul writes:
“Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.”
At the same time, I have been thinking about the story about the lion that had a thistle in his paw…
Is there anything in your life that has been a “thistle”? Maybe what we think is a thistle in our lives, is really not one at all? I’m even more convinced of this after my conversation with Olivia as written above. Maybe some of the things God allows us to go through in this life, is for HIS glory?! I’m not saying that any sickness, illness or something of that sort is a blessing, but maybe God allows it so that He will be glorified through you in the lives of others? Remember, I am an 11 year breast cancer survivor. When I went through cancer, just like with anyone who has gone through cancer, it came as a serious shock to me. I have written many posts about my cancer experience in my previous blog site which can be found at www.theprodigalsdaughter.blogspot.com (it is also listed in the tab above called “Favorite Links to Bless You” in this blog). While I don’t wish cancer on ANYONE, I can tell you from personal experience that God IS still in the business of healing. I am not in “remission” I have been healed. GOD HEALED ME. I have had people ask me, when I talk about my cancer experience, if I was afraid to die. My response is honest and real, my reply was, “no, I was too busy concentrating on living.” You see, my eyes were steadfast upon my God. The One who has told me in Isaiah 49:16:
“Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.”
and, I knew that in Exodus 23:26 God promises me:
“The number of your days I will fulfill.”
So how would worrying about what was going to happen to me help me? I had learned throughout my walk with Him that my life is not my own. I BELONG TO HIM. How do I know that? Because the Bible tells me so! (And I read my Word and my promises from God have been engraved upon my heart and my mind so that Holy Spirit can bring them to my remembrance when I need them most – and HE DOES!) The Bible also tells me in Philippians 1:21:
“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
I prayed for healing, I hoped God would heal me, but more than that I trusted that God would fulfill His good and perfect will in my life. He chose to heal me and here I am, He has more work to fulfill with me. I have been known to say this – “that before cancer, my life felt like it was in beautiful hues; after cancer I can say that life’s colors are all vivid. I am very much aware that not one of us is promised tomorrow. We act like we are “owed” tomorrow but God wants us to make the most of today.
There are Job moments that occur sometimes within our journey and how we respond to those instances truly shows where we are in our faith walk. Job himself said in Job 13:15:
“Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him…”
If you are living with a “thistle” in your life – you should know that it is only there because God allows it to be so. You should know that He says:
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
Sometimes God removes the thistles, sometimes He doesn’t. But you can bet that whatever we go through in this life, once we give our lives over to Him, is one where NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, God IS always in control, NOTHING comes as a surprise to Him AND we can bet that GOD KNOWS BEST. My experiences have taught me the truth in the hymn, “My Hope is Built on Nothing Less” (Lyrics Written by Edward Mote)
“My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Christ, my righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name
On Christ the solid Rock, I stand all other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand
When darkness veils his lovely face I rest on his unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil.
His oath, His covenant, His blood supports me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way He then is all my hope and stay.
When He shall come with trumpet sound, Oh may I then in Him be found;
In Him, my righteousness, alone, faultless to stand before the throne.”
There is such peace in knowing who it is who holds me in the palm of His hands, no matter what life throws my way. The truth of the matter is, God continues to show me that He blesses me MORE abundantly than I can imagine (look at my new friendship with Olivia?).
And so I sit with my back a little straighter, I raise my chin a little higher, I am more determined that no matter what – I will still praise and rejoice in God who is my all in all. This does not mean that one should stop believing in a God that can remove the “thistle” from their lives, but whether or not He chooses to change our circumstances, we need to love Him regardless, because of Who He is and because of the price He has paid. Our love for Him is not built upon what He does – it is built upon what He did…
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
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